Sad news from FL. Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of 46-year-old Joseph Ricciardelli, an employee with Emerald Towing in Boynton Beach. He died Monday, 1/2/12, after being struck on the side of the highway.
Here’s the story from The Palm Beach Post:
BOYNTON BEACH — A tow truck driver was hit and killed by a car on Interstate 95 this afternoon while he was picking up traffic cones, a spokesman with the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Joseph Ricciardelli, an employee with Emerald Towing, had pulled his tow truck over to the side of I-95 south of the Woolbright Road exit to assist the Florida Highway Patrol with towing a car. The owner of that car had been arrested and the car needed to be moved off the road, said Lt. Tim Frith with the Florida Highway Patrol.
As part of his work, Ricciardelli, 46, of Boynton Beach, had put up traffic cones to block off part of the HOV lane. After he had loaded the car onto his tow truck, Ricciardelli began to pick up the traffic cones, Frith said.
At that time, Johnnie V. Knowles of Deerfield Beach was driving northbound on I-95 when the car in front of him apparently braked, slowing down near the police scene, Frith said. Knowles swerved his 1995 Toyota Camry into the HOV lane to avoid hitting the driver in front of him – and instead hit Ricciardelli.
Ricciardelli was transported to Delray Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Knowles was transported to Bethesda Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
The investigation into Ricciardelli’s death has not been completed and charges are pending, but that there’s no indication at this point that criminal charges will be filed against Knowles, Frith said.
From Footnotes TowBlog: Towing News Around The Web (www.thetowblog.com)
Posted by Cyndi Kight, Associate Editor of Towing and Recovery Footnotes
