‘I think I just killed my friend’: Winter Springs man faces charges after fire accident in 2023

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Florida. – A 21-year-old man is charged with a 2023 traffic accident in Seminole County that killed a passenger in the vehicle he was driving, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Police responded to a crash on Brumley Road near White Tail Trail, east of Chuluota, at 10:20 p.m. on May 16, 2023.

According to FHP, a Winter Springs man, later identified as 21-year-old Zachary Kreusch, was driving a 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster west on Brumley Road when he failed to negotiate a curve. The car left the road and landed in a ditch before striking a tree and rolling over several times.

According to an FHP accident report, Kreusch was able to escape from the car before it burst into flames. His passenger, identified as 20-year-old Dylan Astacio, was trapped in the car and was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said.

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According to a police report, the Porsche traveled 29 metres before the driver oversteered and re-entered the roadway. It then travelled another 30 metres before leaving the road to the left and ending up 46 metres into a ditch on the south edge of Brumley Road. The right side of the vehicle struck a tree, struck a fence and continued travelling in a southwesterly direction before rolling over. It eventually came to rest on its right side, approximately 27 metres from where it struck the tree.

According to police, the Porsche was completely engulfed in flames after the accident.

“I was driving my mom’s new car and my friend wanted to see how fast it could go,” Kreusch told emergency services on the phone at the time of the accident, according to the report. “I think I just killed my friend.”

Police said that based on their investigation and Kreusch’s testimony, they concluded that he caused the accident that led to Astacio’s death.

On Tuesday, police announced that Kreusch had been arrested and booked into the Seminole County Jail on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

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