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Fiery Crash Kills Officer, Inmate on Highway
23 Feb
Summary
- Prison van carrying two officers and two inmates crashed and caught fire.
- Officer Michael Valera and inmate William Rodman died in the incident.
- Two other individuals, an officer and an inmate, were critically injured.
A catastrophic collision on Interstate 10 in Mississippi resulted in the deaths of a prison officer and an inmate. The incident occurred on Wednesday around 9:30 AM when a prison transport van, operated by St. Joseph Services, swerved and collided with a utility truck, subsequently bursting into flames.
Officer Michael Valera, 32, and inmate William Rodman, 34, were pronounced dead at the scene. Rodman was being transferred from Florida to Georgia after being released from a jail in Lake City, Florida, facing fraud charges. The van was reportedly traveling from Florida to Mississippi to pick up another inmate.
Two other occupants of the van, inmate Javier Arroyo and Officer Raymond Boetermann, were airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. First responders had to cut open the van to free Arroyo, who was shackled in the rear.
The driver of the utility truck, Jerry Jenkins, 54, sustained serious injuries and was transported by ambulance. The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash, which led to significant traffic delays for hours.
