On 5/5/2017, Trooper Linzmayer authored a Traffic Crash Report and reported:
“V01 traveled southbound on State Road 91 (Florida Turnpike), in the #5 lane. V02 traveled southbound on the Florida Turnpike, in the outside (#6) lane. For an unknown reason(s) V01 skidded, and rotated clockwise, before its left front portion struck V02’s front left (steering) wheel/tire, and front left corner bumper. D01 subsequently brought V01 to a stop on the western paved shoulder, facing south. D02 brought V02 to a stop on the western paved shoulder, facing south, southerly from V01.”
This is a fairy tale as I will demonstrate in the courtroom.
On 5/5/2017 at 2:36 p.m., Carrie Broussard called 911. [EXHIBIT 183.] She didn’t see the impact, but she saw me spin around several times in the middle of the Turnpike headed Southbound. She said she saw me attempting to get out in the slow lane around Mile Marker 257, but she saw me spinning out in the two middle lanes. She later told me I was spinning counterclockwise. [EXHIBIT ____.] (Trooper Linzmayer said I was spinning clockwise, which would have been consistent with his bizarre account of the accident.)
On 5/5/2017 at 2:39 p.m., Jerome Wilt called 911. [EXHIBIT 184.] He reported the accident on the Florida Turnpike between 267 and 268 between a white convertible and a semi-truck. He said he saw the semi-truck had pulled over to the right shoulder, but the convertible was still in the middle of the road.
Jerome Wilt has said in a sworn statement that the trucker caused the accident. [EXHIBIT ___.]
On 5/5/2017 at 2:39 p.m., 17 milliseconds later, I called 911. [EXHIBIT 185.] I told the 911 operator that I just had a truck run into me and spun me around near Exit 265 heading Southbound on the Florida Turnpike. I told the operator that I felt a twinge in my back, but I didn’t think I was injured. (I was clueless. I was injured.) I declined an ambulance. (Dumb move on my part.) I told the operator I was able to push the car over to the shoulder. 57-seconds into the 911 call, I told the operator that the truck driver was walking up. I described the truck as an 18-wheeler with a green rear bumper, and I identified my car as a white Pontiac Solstice. At 1:14 into the 911 call, I responded to the trucker that I was okay when he asked. At 1:28 into the call, a highway patrol car appeared. I told the operator I was driving down the road and the next thing I knew, I was hit. The call lasted 2:11. The Call History Record [EXHIBIT 118] shows Trooper Linzmayer was on the scene at 2:41 p.m. and was on the call until 5:41 p.m.
At 5:41 p.m. Sallis Towing towed my car to Progressive Insurance’s office and gave me a ride. [EXHIBIT 297.]
Tracy Longest’s AT&T Telephone Bill [EXHIBIT 119] shows that Robert Longest was on the phone with 407-850-7831 at the time of the accident and called 911 four minutes later. He may have been distracted by the phone call he was on when he ran into me. 407-850-7831 is a number at ______________.
I believe Robert Longest called his company and probably got instructions on what to say and do. Before he walked down to my vehicle, he called 407-850-7831 again and the call was connected for four minutes. This means that person heard everything Longest and I discussed and perhaps what he told Trooper Linzmayer. He called 407-850-7831 again at 2:49 p.m. He called 407-455-3280 at 2:54 p.m. He called 407-850-7831 again at 3:00 p.m. He called 407-558-1961 at 3:02 p.m. He received an incoming call from 407-293-4463 at 3:17 p.m. He called 407-455-3280 again at 3:53 p.m. He received an incoming call from 407-455-3280 at 4:15 p.m. He called 407-455-3280 again at 4:23 p.m. He received an incoming call from 407-455-3280 at 4:24 p.m. He called 407-455-3280 again at 5:05 p.m. and spoke for 16 minutes. He called 407-271-9810 at 5:21 p.m. and spoke for 27 minutes. At 5:48 p.m., he received an incoming call from 407-271-9810. He called 321-947-7392 at 5:57 p.m. and spoke for 11 minutes.
6:31 321-987-9397 strange
6:34 407-421-2155 landscaping
6:35 407-468-5455 sms
6:37 407-421-2155 landscaping
6:38 321-987-9397 strange
8:48 407-670-4362 retired, wouldn’t talk, did talk to longest
8:55 407-421-2155 landscaping
8:56 440-453-3331 not accepting calls at this time recording
9:01 407-455-3280 left vm
When the trucker (Robert Longest) spoke through my passenger window, he asked if I was okay and said he was sorry. He did not admit liability. He did say he didn’t know what happened.
I called my insurance company to report the accident. Progressive Insurance Claim Number 171822789. Progressive Insurance Adjuster: Steven Larue – 407-949-3697. (Michael F. Sopko of Progressive has handled medical claims – 800-444-3909.) Police Report Number 85433907. The 18-wheeler Kenworth truck was owned by a Goliath, Boise Cascade.
The State Trooper, Gregory S. Linzmayer, arrived, spoke briefly with me and Mr. Robert Longest. He then went down the highway to the Boise Cascade Kenworth truck with Robert Longest, where he spent a long time. I believe Chris Mello was also there.
Trooper Linzmayer only returned to me and my car briefly, did a quick look at the damage to the Pontiac Solstice from the left front, and then went back to the Kenworth truck.
Approximately two hours after the accident, the Trooper came back and gave me a fancy typed Citation. He claimed I spun out and hit the truck on its left fender with the left front fender of my car. This is beyond ludicrous. Mr. Robert Longest lied and claimed he was in the far-right lane. I heard him. He was not in the far-right lane; he was to my left, and he hit me with his right front tire and big steel bumper. The tire marks are very clear on my left front bumper. They show the tire residue streaking from North to South, pooling at the Southern spot. If I had been going down the Turnpike backwards, that tire residue would have been in the opposite direction. My left rear wheel was badly damaged. If I hit the truck with my left front fender against his left front fender, my left rear wheel could not get so badly damaged.
All of the damage to my car was on the left side. The greatest damage was to the left front, but there were also holes in the driver’s door as well as dents in the left rear quarter panel. I don’t know if the truck hit me more than once. When I started spinning, it was all I could do to try to get the car under control. I was afraid I was going to die when I hit the big cement barricades in the median.
I took several photos of my car, and I walked up to the truck and took a few. The right front bumper on the truck was badly bent. I was afraid to get out into the road to take photos of the left front of the truck. I also didn’t think it could be relevant, but Mr. Chris Mello, the man who came to be with the trucker, said there was damage to the left front of the truck. Trooper Linzmayer later claimed that was where I ran into the truck! I believe Mr. Chris Mello concocted the story about the left front fender of the truck. I suspect the paid off Trooper Linzmayer as there is no other logical explanation.
Paramedics came twice. I told them I felt okay, just a little sore. I felt a twinge in my back, and I told the 911 operator this as you will hear on the recording. But I later realized that I was hurt, and I am still hurt today.
My car was small – very low to the ground, but it was far from invisible – 71.3” wide and 157.2” long. I believe the trucker simply didn’t look, went to change lanes, and rammed me. He told me he was exiting at 265, the exit where I was to get off. He lied to the police to avoid a ticket and the four points. Perhaps his job was also at risk. He called someone who came out and was with him – someone from his company — to coach him – Chris Mello.
A careless driving charge is 4 points on a driver’s license. This will cause a driver’s insurance costs to rise and their license may be in jeopardy of a suspension depending on the number of points they have already received on their license.
When Trooper G.S. Linzmayer handed me a citation, I just about croaked. I hadn’t had a traffic or parking ticket in 17 years, now 22 years. I was rammed. I did nothing wrong. I argued politely with the Trooper, and he claimed he has seen cases before where a car spun out in the middle of the highway and hit a car left front to left front. I think this would be all but impossible, and it certainly didn’t happen in this case. I told Trooper Linzmayer that he needed to find the woman who called 911. He returned later to say he had called her (Carrie Broussard) and was waiting for a callback. He said he would tear up the citation if she corroborated my story. I subsequently learned that she didn’t see the impact. Trooper Linzmayer also gave me the Accident Report.
Trooper Linzmayer concealed that there was another eyewitness, Jerome Wilt. He saw it all and has testified that the truck driver caused the accident. Now why would Trooper Linzmayer conceal this vital information unless he was paid off?
I was told that Trooper Linzmayer would call a tow truck, but he never did. I finally arranged a towing company through AAA: Sallis Towing – 352-874-0545. They picked up the car and me and took us to Progressive Insurance’s office. I paid for the tow, and Progressive reimbursed me.
As I got up out of my chair at Progressive Insurance’s office when my Enterprise car was ready, I realized I was injured.
On the way home in Leesburg on May 5, 2017, I went to LRUC Urgent Care in Mount Dora. Dr. Jeremy Johnson examined me and took some X-rays. He could see and feel the trauma to my abdomen. He said it would be several weeks to a month after the swelling went down before referring me to a surgeon. I believed the accident caused my abdomen to pull away from mesh inserted when I had Emergency Incarcerated Umbilical Hernia Surgery on March 29, 2016. I also had some pain in my left arm, but no other pain at that time except a headache and a little neck stiffness.
LRUC Urgent Care in Mount Dora
8404 US Hwy 441
Mount Dora, Florida
352-385-4405
On May 8, 2017, Robert Longest submitted an Accident Report to Boise Cascade. [EXHIBIT 135.] It was co-signed by Ivan Wayne Laster, shown as his “Supervisor.” It shows the Boise Cascade truck in the far-right lane of a two-lane road. It shows my Pontiac Solstice in the lane to the left of the truck. I was never to the left of the truck. The Florida Turnpike was six lanes in each direction where the accident took place. It shows the road curving to the right exiting from the Turnpike, but we were a half-mile from that exit when the accident happened. Longest claims he was driving 60-miles-per-hour, but it was at least 70. The Report shows Robert Longest had been working 10 hours when the accident took place. He claimed there was damage to the bumper, rim, and hub and that the truck was towed from the scene. The report shows the truck to be a 2018 Kenworth, Company Vehicle # 87698, VIN: 1XKZD49X1551815.
Progressive Insurance informed me my car was totaled. I had to rent an Enterprise car while I looked for a replacement for my car. On May 10, 2017, I accepted Progressive’s offer on my car. It was a fair amount in terms of fair market value, but I was unable to replace the car for that amount. I was paid $7,397.10. There was a $500 deductible that I had to absorb. Progressive paid Enterprise directly for most, if not all, of the rentals.