A 28-year-old Tampa man was killed early Sunday in a violent single-car crash in which his Volvo sports coupe went airborne three times and crashed into a cinder-block building, deputies said.

Jeremiah Grady Simpson was pronounced dead at the scene, and excessive speed and possible impairment appeared to be factors, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

According to Bay News 9's partner paper the Lakeland Ledger, Simpson was a military veteran and a graduate of the University of Florida.



Neighbors near the scene said they heard loud noises in the night.



"I heard a big boom, it sounded like a dump truck and I come running outside and I didn't see nothing going on," said neighbor Tina Butler. "I didn't see any cops so I went back inside and went to bed, the next thing I know I see flashing lights in my windows."

According to investigators, Simpson was driving a 2010 2-door Volvo C30 south on State Road 37 (Church Avenue), north of State Road 60, around 1:40 a.m. As the car crossed over S.R. 60, it hit a dip in the road. The car went airborne and then bottomed out, leaving several gouge marks in the asphalt.

Simpson then lost control and began to spin sideways, deputies said. The car struck the curb on the west side of Church Avenue and ran up onto the sidewalk and grass. It continued south, crossing over a set of railroad tracks and sliding across Phosphate Avenue.

Still traveling sideways, deputies said, the car broke off a piece of the curb on Phosphate Avenue and continued across the lawn in front of Master Containers Inc., at 209 Phosphate Blvd.

The car, still sliding, struck a second set of railroad tracks before going airborne again and rotating. It crossed over 2nd Street SW, never touching the roadway, and in the grass lot of the Control Corrosion maintenance building at 307 S. Church.. However the Volvo kept sliding sideways as the tires dug into the dirt, which caused it to rotate again.

Deputies said the car became airborne for a third time before crashing through the cinder block building, creating a hole 15 feet high and 25 feet wide and landing upside down. A wheel that came off created a second large hole.

Authorities kept the roadway closed for about eight hours while Simpson's body was removed and deputies investigated. Tampa Electric Company crews cut power to the building because of exposed electrical wires.

The building contained several hazardous materials that were near the mangled vehicle and exposed live electrical wires, deputies said. Also, CSX Railroad had to stop train traffic on both railways and send track inspectors to check the rails for damage.