A wrong-way driver caused a predawn crash Saturday that killed him and a Miccosukee police officer on Alligator Alley near U.S. 27, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Curtis Woolwine, 32 of Plantation, and Miccosukee Officer Steven Greco, 40, both died in the head-on crash that happened about 5 a.m. Saturday, just east of an Interstate 75 toll plaza, the Highway Patrol said.
Greco had been on his way home from work on I-75, a segment of which is known as Alligator Alley.
He was eastbound on I-75 in a 2018 Dodge Charger when he collided with Woolwine, who was driving a 2016 Chevrolet Sonic west in the eastbound left lane, the Highway Patrol said.
Greco was airlifted to Broward Health Medical Center and died, Highway Patrol Lt. Al Feola said. Woolwine died at the crash site.
“All I know is he’s a great person,” said Greco’s brother, Salvatore. “And he loves his job.”
Woolwine’s widow, Meagan, said she was devastated by the loss and mystified about what happened.
“He was an amazing person,” she said. “The best thing that happened to me in my life. I can be miserable, and he’ll do something stupid — make a funny face — and make me laugh. The world lost an amazing, happy, fun man way too soon.”
Results of an alcohol test on Woolwine, who worked in the boat industry, are pending, but Meagan Woolwine said she doubted he had been drinking.
“Anybody who knows him — He has one beer and he doesn’t want to drive,” she said. “We just can’t figure this out.”
Debris from the two cars was strewn across the eastbound lanes, which were shut down for several hours after the wreck. The lanes reopened about 10 a.m.
wkroustan@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4303 or Twitter @WayneRoustan
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