Driver causes deadly crash in stolen truck, flees by clinging to semi, Florida cops say
The driver of a stolen vehicle caused a deadly wrong-way crash, then tried to carjack another car before getting away by hanging onto a semi, Florida authorities said.
He’s now been arrested and identified as 20-year-old Rodney Wesley, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Feb. 12.
He’s facing charges of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, armed carjacking, two counts of attempted carjacking, grand theft auto, petit theft and resisting an officer without violence, according to jail records.
The charges stem from a two-day crime spree that started Feb. 3 when Wesley was accused of stealing a man’s Lexus while he was putting air in his tires at his home, police wrote in an arrest report.
Wesley abandoned the vehicle, then went to steal another one the next day, police said. Hours after police found the stolen Lexus, another driver reported a man, later identified as Wesley, carjacked his truck at a gas station and drove off, according to police.
The spree continued onto Interstate 295, where Wesley is accused of driving the wrong way and hitting a 66-year-old motorcyclist, who was then hit by another vehicle and killed. The accident caused a pileup and shut down the interstate for hours, police said.
Law enforcement said Wesley unsuccessfully tried to steal another person’s car during the pileup but got away by hitching a ride on the outside of a tractor-trailer.
By the time officers got to the crash site, they found the stolen vehicle empty, with blood on the inside and outside. On the passenger seat was a backpack that matched the one seen on surveillance footage during the gas station carjacking, officers said.
On Feb. 6, two days after the crash, officers spotted Wesley riding a bike and tried to take him into custody, according to a report. Wesley is accused of fleeing and hiding behind a shed. Officers sent a K-9 that bit him in the leg and the wrist, police said.
He was arrested and booked in jail on bond of $2.58 million, records show.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Driver causes deadly crash in stolen truck, flees by clinging to semi, Florida cops say."