Ambulance driver cited in fatal wreck on Busch

Jerold Dale Hager was three or four blocks from dropping off his grandsons.

They had stopped by an Arby's to grab milkshakes after a Boy Scouts meeting Monday night, and Hager was behind the wheel of a Ford pickup, heading west on Busch Boulevard.

Heading in the opposite direction on Busch was an ambulance owned by American Medical Response West Florida.

Authorities say ambulance driver Justin McKenzie hit the brakes and took evasive action when he realized traffic ahead of him had stopped. But Unit 21 crossed the double yellow line and struck the Ford near Ola Avenue.

Hager, 64, had to be cut free from the wreckage. The Temple Terrace man was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital but was pronounced dead this morning.

"He was a really great man," said his daughter, Beth Tarantola. "He was always there. He was always, always there. He took care of everybody. It's going to be hard."

Tarantola's sons Jamie, 13, and Joseph, 11, were taken to St. Joseph's with minor injuries.

"My little boys are doing all right - bumped and bruised, but they're doing all right," she said.

The ambulance crew, which also included 28-year-old Ashley Prazza-Odom and 18-year-old Jasmine Alcantara, both of Tampa, had minor injuries.

McKenzie, 28, of Palm Harbor, has been cited for careless driving and is not expected to face criminal charges, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

The crew tended to Hager and his grandsons until emergency crews arrived, authorities said.

An American Medical Response supervisor said the ambulance was responding to a call and did not have its lights and sirens activated, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said.

It does not appear that either vehicle was speeding in the 45 mph zone, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

McKenzie has worked for American Medical Response West Florida for about two years. The company serves Hillsborough, Pasco, Hardee and Highlands counties, according to its Web site. It handles about 50,000 calls a year and employs about 250 paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

McKenzie's file shows a clean criminal history. The only points he has received on his license came in 2000, when he was cited for driving 92 mph in a 65 mph zone in Taylor County, said Mario Tamargo, chief inspector for Hillsborough's Public Transportation Commission.

In a statement, Tom Diaz, general manager of American Medical Response West Florida, said: "As an organization dedicated to protecting and saving lives, we are sincerely saddened by this tragic death. Our thoughts are with the family at this time as well as our crew members."

Diaz said the company is cooperating with the investigation and "cannot release any information regarding the persons involved in the collision due to federal and state patient privacy laws."

Hager repaired diesel engine components for a living and did a lot of volunteer work for the Boy Scouts, his daughter said. He leaves behind three children and three grandchildren.

"We expected him one day to be 85 years old, puttering around and on the Boy Scout range," Tarantola said. "We kept waiting for him to retire because he was getting close."