Tractor trailer driver charged with DUI after five-vehicle crash in East Manatee

A Bradenton man was placed under arrest on a DUI charge after troopers say he lost control of the tractor-trailer he was driving and side-swiped four other vehicles.

The accident happened around 10:34 a.m. Tuesday on Rutland Road (County Road 675),just south of Oak Knoll Road in East Manatee.

The 21-year-old Bradenton man was driving the tractor-trailer northbound on Rutland Road. As he approached a curve in the road, troopers say that he exited his lane and entered the southbound lane, where there was oncoming traffic.

The left side of the tractor-trailer hit a truck-trailer, a pickup truck and two SUVs in the southbound lane before traveling onto a wooded shoulder along the roadway.

All four of the vehicles that were struck came to stop on the right shoulder of the Rutland Road, according to FHP. All of the occupants were uninjured.

The Bradenton man sustained minor injuries in the crash. It was determined that he had been driving under the influence, according to FHP, and he was placed under arrest and transported to the Manatee County jail.

Troopers did not identify the driver, and jail inmate records did not yet reflect the arrest late Tuesday afternoon.