PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — One person died and a Palm Beach County deputy was taken to the hospital Friday following a crash in west Boynton Beach.
Teri Barbera, a spokeswomen for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, said two vehicles were involved in the wreck just after 10:30 a.m. in the 11100 block of South Jog Road.
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According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 33-year-old deputy was responding to an incident while driving a marked PBSO SUV with its emergency lights and sirens activated.
When a 2005 Hyundai sedan, driven by a 80-year-old Boynton Beach man, began to turn left into a business center on Jog Road, the deputy's SUV collided with the right side of the Hyundai.
The driver of the Hyundai was pronouced dead at the scene, while the deputy was taken to Delray Medical Center with non-incapacitating injuries.
Photos from our WPTV News crew at the scene showed the front of a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office SUV smashed in with the airbag deployed, along with a second vehicle, a tan sedan, crashed up against a tree.
When WPTV's Joel Lopez arrived on scene at approximately 11 a.m., it appeared there was a funeral service happening at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel next to where the crash happened.
Lopez spoke to Seth Blackburn from Greenacres, who said he was driving to work when he saw the aftermath.
"There was a bunch of people actually coming for a funeral," Blackburn said. "I think they were actually loading up the hearse. I think they're finally getting on with it now. But it was delayed drastically cause they had to close off all the exits for the funeral home and the offices."
Southbound lanes of Jog Road are back open after earlier closures.
"When you drove by the scene, what did you see?" Lopez asked Blackburn.
"Two vehicles. One was actually a sheriff's vehicle, which was pretty mangled up," Blackburn answered. "The other vehicle that was involved is pretty much like a scrap heap. It looked like it was from the junk yard. It was wedged between two trees and it looked pretty bad."
Blackburn said it's upsetting to see the crash, as Jog Road is his usual commute to work.
"It's a lot of older people here. There's generally older communities around here. So generally people drive under the speed limit," Blackburn said. "If you look around, generally you don't see a lot of people driving too fast."
A person who works in a nearby business said they heard sirens and then the sound of the crash. A different witness who went by the wreck said he saw an older woman with white hair inside the tan sedan.
