WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A 15-year-old Auburndale High School student is dead after a traffic crash in incorporated Winter Haven Tuesday morning.
The teen, Yeriel Gonzalez of Winter Haven, was riding a small black-and-white electric scooter near the intersection of 34th Street and Avenue S NW around 5:50 a.m. A 2016 Dodge Durango was heading northbound on 34th Street when the crash happened.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Durango was behind another vehicle as it approached the intersection of Avenue S NW and 35th Street. The driver told deputies he swerved to avoid some dogs that ran into the road and went into the southbound lanes where Gonzales was hit.
Polk County Sheriff's Office chaplains and the Polk County Safe Schools Division is working with Polk County Schools to provide assistance to students, faculty, and staff.
