Cruiser Crash Kills Florida Officer

MIAMI --

A Miami-Dade police officer was killed in a crash on the Florida Turnpike when his cruiser collided with a dump truck Tuesday morning, police said.

As a result, all southbound lanes of the Turnpike at Southwest 152nd Street were shut down for hours. They have since reopened.

At around 4 a.m., the officer was heading southbound when he ran into the back of a dump truck just before the Southwest 152nd Street exit. The collision caused the officer to lose control of his cruiser, Miami-Dade police Maj. Veronica Ferguson told Local 10.

The officer died at the scene. The driver of the dump truck stopped and is cooperating with investigators. It is too soon to know who was at fault, Ferguson said.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Gonzalez was speeding at the time of the crash, and if so, why. They are also investigating whether the lights on his cruiser were flashing and whether the truck pulled out in front of the police car.

Miami-Dade police identified the officer as 23-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez. He served on the police force for two or three years and had recently finished the officer training program. Gonzalez was engaged to be married and had a 1-year-old son.

According to police, the victim was assigned to the Kendall district. He worked the midnight shift and was on duty at the time of the crash.

"Of course, it's a tragic accident and it affects all of us here at Miami-Dade, and not just at the Miami-Dade Police Department but in law enforcement, period," Ferguson said.

The Turnpike was closed for several hours, but it reopened around 10 a.m. The crash scene caused delays in both directions.

A memorial service for Gonzalez is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the Miami-Dade Police Department headquarters in Doral.

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