A longtime Tampa-area business owner and Tampa Bay Rays minority owner died Monday in a crash involving a tractor-trailer.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators say Lance C. Ringhaver, 76, was heading southbound on U.S. 41 in Tampa when he collided with a trailer that was blocking all southbound lanes at Towaway Avenue.
Investigators say the driver of the tractor trailer, Isbel Guzman, 38, attempted to turn left onto U.S. 41 but failed to complete the turn in a single motion. That left the trailer his truck was pulling blocking the entire intersection.
At this time investigators believe due to low light conditions Ringhaver was unable to see the trailer blocking the road and stop in time. He died from crash-related injuries at the scene.
Troopers cited Guzman with failure to yield the right-of-way.
According to the Tampa Tribune, Ringhaver, of Apollo Beach, was president of family-owned Ringhaver Equipment Co., a dealer of Caterpiller construction equipment for the Central Florida region, until 2003. He served on the Tampa Port Authority until 2008, and was also part of the ownership group to whom Major League Baseball awarded the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1995.
Ringhaver remained a minority investor under current Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg, according to the Rays website.