Two people were fatally injured and another was critically injured when a Lamborghini and Nissan collided Sunday on a road near the future campus of Florida Polytechnic University.
According to Lakeland police, Tiffany Beene, 24, of Kissimmee was driving a 2008 Lamborghini west on University Boulevard just before 3 p.m. The car crossed over the grass center median into the path of a 2013 Nissan driven by Chi Yan Chan, 43, of St. Petersburg.
The impact occurred in the eastbound lanes and scattered debris for about 1,000 feet, police said.
Beene and her passenger, 24-year-old Samuel Hampton of Winter Haven, and Chan were all transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center as trauma alerts. Beene and Hampton died Sunday evening, and Chan remains in critical condition, police said.
A passenger in the Nissan, Tan P. Phan, 22, of Pinellas Park, was treated at the hospital and released.
"Fast. That's all I can say because once I saw the Lamborghini in a flash we were in a crash," he said.
He said about a half dozen sports car fans were driving on the road when the accident happened.
University Boulevard is a four-lane divided roadway that was completed last year and will provide access to Florida Polytechnic.
Phan said the group had gone to the road after getting together for a pre-Super Bowl party.
"No, we weren't racing. We were just cruising. And this car came from the opposite side,” Phan said. “Don't know what they were doing or what happened. All I know was I saw the Lamborghini went over the middle median. In the blink of an eye we got into an accident."
Officers said there was no sign of impairment and all four people were wearing seat belts. An investigation is continuing.
Beene was a graduate of Southeastern University in Lakeland. Her parents were missionaries IN Central America and friends say she wanted to be a missionary there too.
Hampton was the son of a prominent land owner in Winter Haven.