By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was killed in the line of duty overnight while chasing a suspect on the interstate.
Trooper Zachary Fink, 26, was trying to apprehend a fleeing felon who was driving recklessly in St. Lucie County.
Authorities, at a news conference on Friday, said the suspect refused to stop and led Fink on a pursuit.
Scene of the crash
The suspect then made an abrupt turn and started driving in the wrong direction on the interstate.
Fink also turned around in an effort to apprehend him and warn other drivers.
But once Fink turned, he collided with a semi-truck driver.
Both Fink and the truck driver died from injuries.
Stonix News gathered that the suspect eventually crashed his car into a tree and fled the scene on foot.
A manhunt ensued and the suspect, who has not been identified, was taken into custody.
“Trooper Fink is a hero who died while helping people, something he was passionate about since the age of six,” said the executive director of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Dave Kerner.
ABC News reported that Fink, a three-year veteran of the highway patrol, left behind his fiancee, father and stepmother.
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