LaBelle woman killed in five-car pile-up on Pine Island Road
A woman from LaBelle was killed Saturday afternoon in a five-car crash on Pine Island Road near Barrett Road in North Fort Myers.
According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, at 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Carolyn Erwin, 72, of LaBelle, was killed when her 2010 Kia Sportage was caught in the middle of a chain-reaction accident.
The accident started when Stefan Lippke, 32, of Cape Coral, driving a 2012 Bentley, could not stop for traffic stopped ahead of him due to roadway congestion.
His car struck a 2018 Hyundai Tuscon driven by Melissa Swiger, 52, of Cape Coral, which pushed her car into Erwin’s, which, in turn, hit a 2017 Jeep Cherokee driven by Michael Fuller, 60, of Venice. Fuller’s jeep then hit a 2009 Kia Spectra driven by Hikmet Ali, 49, of Cape Coral.
Lippke suffered minor injuries and was transported to Lee Memorial Hospital. None of the other drivers was injured.
The investigation into the crash continues and charges are pending.