By Tony Marrero
Tampa Bay Times
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TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — A Temple Terrace police officer was arrested Thursday on vehicular homicide and other charges after investigators determined he was driving more than 100 mph on Fowler Avenue before a crash that killed a 6-year-old girl this month, authorities said.
Officer Zachary Mason Krug, 25, was also fired after an internal review found that he violated department policies, the Temple Terrace Police Department announced Thursday in a news release. Krug had worked for the agency since January 2024.
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The release did not include information about the criminal charges or the policies Krug violated. It noted that the Florida Highway Patrol investigated the April 15 crash.
In an update Thursday, the Highway Patrol said in a news release that Krug “was traveling at an excessive speed and was the primary contributor to the fatal traffic crash.” The release said Krug was driving in excess of 100 mph.
Krug surrendered to troopers at a Hillsborough County jail and was arrested on one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. He was being held Thursday without bond in Hillsborough’s Falkenburg Road Jail ahead of his first court appearance, records show.
The crash happened about 4 p.m. as Krug was driving his unmarked, department-issued Ford Explorer west on Fowler Avenue, according to the Highway Patrol. A woman driving a Nissan Pathfinder east on Fowler tried to make a U-turn at North Drive and entered Krug’s path, troopers said.
Krug crashed into the Nissan, and both SUVs came to rest in a ditch on the north side of the road.
The 6-year-old girl who was riding in the Nissan died from her injuries at a local hospital.
The 36-year-old Tampa woman driving the Nissan and two other girls in the car, ages 1 and 8, were taken to a hospital with injuries that troopers said were not life-threatening.
The Highway Patrol did not release Krug’s name at the time or identify the people in the Nissan.
Dash camera footage from Krug’s Ford, along with the SUV’s data recorder, showed he was driving 104 mph in a 50-mph zone seconds before the crash, according to an arrest affidavit. Krug was on duty but not “actively taking law enforcement action” at the time, the affidavit said.
“We remain deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from this crash and extend our continued condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones,” the Temple Terrace police department’s news release said. “We fully support the Florida Highway Patrol’s independent investigation and the actions they are taking based on their findings. The actions that led to this arrest are not consistent with our policies, our training, or the expectations we place on our officers.”
The Nissan driver had her three daughters in the car at the time of the crash, according to a GoFundMe campaign created to help the family with medical bills and other expenses. The page identifies the driver only as “Sam” and her 6-year-old daughter as Leila.
The youngest girl, who according to the page is 18 months old, was hospitalized with a concussion and later released. The 8-year-old girl suffered a broken spine, pelvis and injuries to her face along with swelling in her brain and fluid in her lungs. She was placed in a medically induced coma, the page says.
An update posted Thursday said the girl had been moved out of the intensive care unit and was speaking “a few short sentences.”
“Some are clear, some are still coming together, but even those small moments are huge steps forward,“ the organizer, Allison Rodell, wrote in the update. ”At the same time, there have been difficult setbacks. She has experienced recurring seizures, fevers, and ongoing medical complications that the team is closely managing. This is not a straight path, and the situation can change quickly from one moment to the next.
“Sam and her family are doing everything they can to stay present through it all,” Rodell wrote. “The days are long, the nights are longer, and rest is very limited.”
Rodell did not immediately respond Thursday to a message sent via the page.
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