February 20, 2025
Several Hospitalized, Including Children, After SR-19 Crash In Tavares
By Kyle Coppola
Several Hospitalized, Including Children, After SR-19 Crash In Tavares
TAVARES, Fla. — A multi-vehicle crash on State Road 19 in Tavares left several people injured, including three children, on Wednesday morning, according to the Tavares Police Department.
The crash involved three vehicles: a yellow 2004 Ford Mustang, a black 2013 Jeep SUV, and a white 2012 Toyota sedan. The driver of the Mustang, identified as 25-year-old Jocelyn Oleslie of Groveland, was airlifted to a trauma center and is in stable condition.
Authorities said Oleslie was traveling northbound on SR-19 and attempted to turn west onto Woodlea Road when she failed to yield to oncoming traffic. The Mustang collided with two southbound vehicles, the Jeep and the Toyota. Witnesses on the scene confirmed that Oleslie did not yield before making the turn.
The driver of the Jeep, Amber Butler, 35, of Fruitland Park, and the driver of the Toyota, Della Hanks, 61, of Mount Dora, were both transported to AdventHealth with non-life-threatening injuries. Butler had three juvenile passengers in her vehicle, all of whom were also taken to AdventHealth for treatment but whose names are not releasable.
All three vehicles sustained significant damage and were towed from the scene. Police issued Oleslie a citation for failing to yield.
I talked with Detective Courtney Sullivan who works for the Tavares Police Department in the Criminal Investigations Division. She says “Work is being done by our officers including traffic stops to educate drivers on traffic violations and proper use of turn lanes. Traffic accidents have risen this year.”
Our thoughts and prayers remain with everyone involved and that they all make a full recovery.
What are your thoughts? What can be done to help the continued traffic accidents like these in our area? Let us know in the comments below.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
