JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Highway Patrol says a man was hit and killed by a wrong-way driver, whose blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.
A brother identified the man killed as Corbin Wagner, 26. Troopers say the other driver, Orlando Beato, 42, was driving an SUV northbound in a southbound lane.
Wagner’s brother said his sibling was on his way to work when he was struck head-on at I-295 and Baymeadows Road early Friday morning.
“He stocks shelves at Publix so he would work very early in the morning,” said Wagner’s brother, Caleb.
Beato was hospitalized and Wagner died at the scene, FHP said.
“He was a good kid,” Wagner’s brother said. “It’ll leave an empty hole.”
Caleb Wagner remembers his brother as an animal lover, and someone with a great sense of humor.
“I’m quite a bit older than him. It was fun to watch him grow up and become a man,” Caleb Wagner said.
Corbin Wagner is survived by two brothers, his sister, his mother and his father.
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Troopers arrested Beato, a foreign national from the Dominican Republic who had no American driver’s license or address. He’s been accused of DUI manslaughter and remains in the hospital on an absentee booking and immigration hold.
He’s being held on a $125,000 bond, records show.
Most nighttime highway wrong-way collisions happen in the left lane because wrong way drivers think they’re on a two-way road so you’re more likely to avoid a crash if you drive in the right lane.
FHP said it is increasing patrols with extra eyes on the road during the holiday but troopers can’t be everywhere. So if you see a suspected drunk driver, call 911 or *FHP right away.