TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa police officer was killed in a ghost traffic accident.
According to Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, the crash occurred in the northern lanes just before 1am on Interstate 275 near Hillsborough Avenue.
Jesse Madsen, a 45-year-old highly decorated officer who was a 16-year veteran of the division, was killed.
Interstate 275 is currently closed in both directions between E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and E. Sligh Ave.
What you need to know
- TPD officer Jesse Madsen, 45, died in a ghost crash
- TPD chief Brian Dugan said the crash occurred on I-275 near Hillsborough Avenue at 1 a.m. on Tuesday
- Madsen, a 16-year TPD veteran, was a husband, father of four, and a United States Marine
Tampa police began receiving calls at 1 a.m. about a white sedan moving south at high speed in the northern lanes of I-275 and winding through the lanes.
Within a minute of the original call, the vehicle crashed into Officer Madsen’s police vehicle between the Hillsborough and Sligh Avenue exits.
The impact killed both Ofc. Madsen and the 25-year-old male driver of the white sedan. A police escort accompanied Ofc. Madsen’s body to the medical examiner’s officer Tuesday.
Tampa police began receiving calls at 1 a.m. about a white sedan heading south at high speed in the northern lanes of I-275 and winding through the lanes. Within a minute of the original call, the vehicle crashed into Officer Madsen’s police vehicle between the Hillsborough and Sligh Avenue exits. (Spectrum News Image)
Madsen was a husband and father of four children and a Marine. He was a seven-time winner of the Lifesaving Award. He is the 32nd Tampa police officer to be killed on duty.
“This is a tragedy,” said Dugan. “Our community has been startled by these wrong-way drivers. And it’s just a complete tragedy that a husband and father of four are now gone.”
The crash is still under investigation.