Sheriff’s office releases more details after 4 killed, 8 hurt in Polk County 5-car crash

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Polk County Sheriff's Office released more details Thursday after four people were killed and eight others were hurt in a 5-car crash on State Road 60 in Lake Wales. The sheriff's office said the drivers of a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox and a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu were headed westbound on SR 60 near Capps Road on Wednesday, each in their own lane. The Equinox driver tried to move into the lane that the Malibu was in and clipped the right front of it with its rear left corner. The Equinox rotated and crossed the center median, then entered the eastbound lanes and into the path of a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The Tacoma struck the Equinox on its passenger side, causing significant intrusion into the car and killing all four occupants, the sheriff's office said. The Tacoma then rotated and was hit by a 2018 Toyota Corolla. The Tacoma then went into the path of a 2025 Ford F-150. The impact of the Equinox and Malibu caused the Malibu to enter the median, become airborne and flip multiple times. The Malibu was not hit by any other vehicle. The drivers of the Malibu and Tacoma were sent to the hospital by helicopter, both with significant injuries. The Corolla driver suffered minor injuries in the crash. Four children in the car were minimally injured and taken to a hospital as a precaution. The F-150 driver was also minimally injured and treated by Polk County Fire Rescue at the scene. The investigation is ongoing. Surveillance cameras from the E60 Storage Facility captured the incident. The facility's owner, Jason Voorhees shared the video with 8 On Your Side. "It's usually cars turning onto Capps Road here, but this time, unfortunately, it was something else," Voorhees said. "I've never seen such a response from police and emergency vehicles. It was really, really bad." Voorhees said he believes some of the county infrastructure cannot handle the increasing number of people traveling into the area, but adds that there needs to be something in place to ensure drivers slow down along State Road 60. "[State Road] 60 runs over to Vero Beach; the last stoplight is at Yeehaw Junction. The next off light to slow anybody down is up here about another mile," Voorhees explained. "There's nothing in between that and people are still riding quite fast." According to the sheriff's office, it is too early to tell what exactly led up to the crash, but authorities do not believe anyone was impaired.