The bassist for a popular heavy metal band, Adrenaline Mob, is dead after a multiple-vehicle crash in Micanopy, Florida. The crash involved the band’s RV, a truck and trailer with their equipment, and a tractor trailer. Other members of the band and their entourage were injured in the crash, some critically. Truck crashes are often deadly for those in passenger vehicles.
Adrenaline Mob was Bound for St. Petersburg when Truck Crash Occurred
The fatal crash occurred on Friday, July 14, 2017, as the band was traveling to St. Petersburg, Florida, for a concert on their tour promoting their new “We the People” album.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) believes that most of the band and some of their crew were traveling in an RV, while drummer Jordan Cannata drove a 2003 GMC Sierra that was towing a trailer with the band’s equipment. The RV and van were traveling south on I-75, not far from Mile Marker 372, when the RV got a flat tire. Both vehicles pulled over onto the shoulder to fix the tire, according to FHP. It was as the two vehicles were stopped on the shoulder that a semi-truck veered off the road and struck the RV.
“We had a [sic] RV that had pulled off to the shoulder, we aren’t sure if it was possibly disabled, and prior to it getting to traffic it was struck in the rear by a tractor trailer,” FHP Lt. Patrick Riordan said in a statement after the truck accident. “Once it got struck by the tractor trailer, the RV traveled off the roadway, caught on fire and burned to the ground.”
FHP says that the truck driver was traveling from Atlanta, Georgia, to Orlando, Florida, with a load of cooking oil. Officials believe that the truck was owned by Twiss Transport.
Marion County firefighters received the call on the Micanopy truck crash at 12:24 p.m. and arrived on scene at 12:38 p.m. It took the firefighters 16 minutes to extinguish the blaze from the burning RV. Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Dumon was traveling north when he reached the accident scene and assisted the injured before emergency personnel arrived.
“There was a lot of blood, still a little freaked out by it,” Dumon said in an interview with WCJB.com. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much blood and people screaming in pain like that so that was honestly something different.”
This was the second serious accident Adrenaline Mob has been involved in. In 2014 the band was in a crash while touring in New Hampshire. That crash damaged the band’s van and equipment.
Bassist David Zablidowsky Killed in Micanopy Truck Crash
Nine people were involved in the Florida truck crash, but the sole fatality was Adrenaline Mob bassist David Zablidowsky, who was in the RV when the accident occurred and was pronounced dead at 12:42 p.m. All surviving members of the band sustained serious injuries, and the band’s manager, Janet Rains (known professionally as Jane Train) was critically injured.
The only person who was not injured in the accident was the semi-truck driver, 59-year-old Robert Edwin Haines. Haines has not commented on the crash.
Zablidowsky had spent many years playing with the popular Trans-Siberian Orchestra before he joined Adrenaline Mob.
Statements from Adrenaline Mob Band Members on RV Crash
The day after the Micanopy truck crash, surviving members of the band took to social media to express their grief over their deceased bandmate.
Singer Russell Allen posted this statement on his Facebook page:
Yesterday I was involved in an accident that took the life of my dear friend and band mate David Z Rock and left 3 of our crew in critical condition. I’m overwhelmed with sorrow. I am so grateful for the out pouring of love we have received from around the world. Please continue to pray for David’s family during this difficult time. And those in critical condition. I want to personally thank Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Dumon for his bravery in assisting me pull our Driver Jason from the wreckage and for attending to his wounds. And for helping me to secure and attend to Jane once I was able to get her free from the fire. Without his selfless act of courage I would not have been able to get them clear of the RV before it was engulfed in flames. On behalf of my band and crew I thank you.
Orlando, the guitarist for Adrenaline Mob, echoed Allen’s sentiments and elaborated on his pain, saying on his Facebook page:
I’m trying to process & deal with this, physically & mentally… so I’m sorry for being vague. We’ve literally experienced hell on earth.. I’m absolutely broken, both physical & mental. I love you Dave, I will miss you more then words can say. You were one of the sweetest souls I’ve ever known.
Another Truck Crash in Micanopy Less Than a Week Later
Micanopy residents were faced with another truck crash four days after the accident involving Adrenaline Mob. The second crash occurred on July 18, 2017, when 59-year-old Nathan Currington lost control of the semi-truck he was driving and jackknifed before slamming into a support column in the median of I-75.
Currington sustained only minor injuries, but the northbound lanes were blocked by the semi-truck and traffic was re-routed while officials worked to clear the wreck and inspect the overpass. FHP is still investigating the cause of the truck accident.
