TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa police officer was killed early Tuesday by a wrong-way driver, which caused a horrific traffic collision. The offending motorist was also killed in the crash, according to reports.
Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen, a 45-year-old highly decorated officer who was a 16-year veteran of the department, was killed while responding to calls about a wrong-way driver on Interstate 275.
According to Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, the crash occurred in the northbound lanes just before 1 a.m. on I-275 near Hillsborough Avenue, Bay9 News reported.
Interstate 275 was closed for several hours in both directions between E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and E. Sligh Ave.
Tampa Police began receiving calls at 1 a.m. about a white sedan driving southbound in the northbound lanes of I-275 at a high rate of speed and swerving through the lanes.
Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen was killed early Tuesday when his police vehicle was struck by a wrong way driver on I-275. Madsen, 45, was a 16-year veteran of the department, a husband, father and US Marine. https://t.co/XIMiG69u8G pic.twitter.com/UJcNxwWrZC
— Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) March 9, 2021
Dugan said Joshua Daniel Montague, 25, of Golden, Colorado was driving his rental car sedan south in the northbound lanes. Within a minute of the original call, the vehicle crashed into Madsen’s patrol unit between the Hillsborough and Sligh Avenue exits. Consequently, the impact killed both men.
A police escort accompanied Madsen’s body to the medical examiner’s office early Tuesday, according to Bay9 News.
Madsen was a husband and father of three and a Marine. He was a 7-time Lifesaving Award-winner. He is the 32nd Tampa police officer to die in the line of duty.
“This a tragedy,” Dugan said. “Our community has been rocked by these wrong-way drivers. And it’s just a complete tragedy a husband and father of three is now gone.”
The deadly collision remains under investigation.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan: "Ofc. Jesse Madsen was a husband and a father of three and a US Marine. He was a 7-time Lifesaving Award-winner. It's just a complete tragedy a husband and father of four is now gone."https://t.co/XIMiG69u8G pic.twitter.com/k5UcbIiKil
— Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) March 9, 2021
Dugan said the city of Tampa will have a 7-day period of mourning.
Speaking Tuesday morning, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the city’s former police chief, said the community will honor Madsen by lighting up city hall and the donwtown bridges in blue.
“This is a very difficult day for our entire community,” Castor said. “And specifically for the members of the Tampa Police Department. When we lose an officer, it affects the entire community but specifically the men and women in uniform.”
