Florida police chase ends after vehicle goes airborne, crashes into car dealership

Dramatic footage captured by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s dashboard camera shows a vehicle going airborne and crashing into a car dealership during a police chase after it was clocked traveling at 111 mph, reports say. 

The 24-year-old driver of the car, identified by police as Jennifer Carvajal, is now facing DUI and reckless driving charges following the crash Sunday morning in Seffner, near Tampa. Three passengers were in the car with her, one of whom died.

Carvajal was on probation for a previous DUI manslaughter conviction at the time, according to FOX13. A 22-year-old passenger who was thrown from the vehicle later died from her injuries.

The station reports that an FHP sergeant first clocked Carvajal traveling 111 mph as she was heading westbound on Interstate 4, outside of Tampa.  

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Video from the FHP then shows her vehicle making a hard-right turn and launching into the air after hitting an embankment along the side of the road.  

The FHP told FOX13 that the sergeant was trying to overtake and stop Carvajal’s vehicle, but it ended up sailing over a fence and crashing into a truck parked at a Ford dealership next to the interstate. 

Carvajal, who suffered minor injuries, was the only one inside the vehicle wearing a seat belt, investigators say. A 19-year-old in the front passenger seat reportedly was thrown into the rear of the car while a 20-year-old who was ejected managed to survive. 

The charges Carvajal is facing are expected to be upgraded after the 22-year-old passenger was pronounced dead later Sunday, according to FOX13. 

In 2014, Carvajal – then 16-years-old – was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter and driving without a valid license after another fatal crash in the same area, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 

The newspaper, citing Plant City police, says Carvajal was speeding and ran a red light when her SUV struck a car and killed its driver – 52-year-old Keith Davis – on the morning of Feb. 5 that year. 

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She then was sentenced to five years in state prison in 2016 after being tried as an adult in that case, according to the Tampa Bay Times.  

However, in October 2019, records show Carvajal was released early – only to be arrested again in May 2020 for a drug-related probation violation and sentenced to five additional years of probation, the newspaper reported.