{"id":87931,"date":"2026-11-12T12:05:39","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=87931"},"modified":"2026-11-12T12:05:48","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:05:48","slug":"winter-haven-school-bus-crash-lawsuit-insurer-files-interpleader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/11\/12\/winter-haven-school-bus-crash-lawsuit-insurer-files-interpleader\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Haven School Bus Crash Lawsuit: Insurer Files Interpleader"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

United Automobile Insurance Company has filed a civil interpleader lawsuit involving the Polk County School Board, the estates of the two victims, and dozens of students following the fatal October 5, 2026, Winter Haven school bus crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than seeking damages or accusing the school district of wrongdoing, the insurer is asking a judge to take custody of an $11,000<\/strong> policy payout and decide how to divide it among the competing claimants.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Insurer Filed the Case<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Insufficient Policy Limits:<\/strong> United Automobile Insurance Company insured the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu that triggered the chain-reaction wreck. Because the policy only provides $11,000<\/strong> in available proceeds\u2014far less than the catastrophic losses from two deaths, dozens of hospitalizations, and totaled vehicles\u2014the company cannot fairly settle claims on its own without exposing itself to conflicting lawsuits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Protecting Against Multiple Claims:<\/strong> By filing an interpleader action, the insurer is asking to deposit the $11,000 directly with the court so a judge can legally determine who is entitled to the funds and release the insurer from further liability under that policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Who Is Named in the Filing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Because every party involved in the four-vehicle collision could potentially make a claim against the Malibu’s policy, the lawsuit formally names them as defendants so they have legal standing to claim a share of the money:<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Polk County School Board:<\/strong> Owner of the school bus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Fatalities’ Estates\/Families:<\/strong> Representatives for 10th-grade Winter Haven High School student Adinaluz Guadalupe Prieto Oyola<\/strong> and 26-year-old Jeep Compass driver Deshaun Smith<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • All 38 Minors on the Bus:<\/strong> The 37 high school students and the bus driver’s 9-year-old daughter, listed through their individual legal representatives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Other Drivers:<\/strong> The operator of the fourth vehicle involved, a 2023 Kia Forte.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Recap of the October 5 Crash<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the crash occurred around 6:15 a.m. on Lucerne Park Road (State Road 544) near Winter Haven.<\/sup> Investigators stated the westbound Chevrolet Malibu crossed the center line and struck the rear-wheel area of the eastbound school bus, ripping off a tire.<\/sup> The impact sent the bus into oncoming traffic, where it collided head-on with Smith’s Jeep Compass\u2014causing the Jeep to catch fire\u2014and overturned.<\/sup> A Kia Forte then rear-ended the Malibu.<\/sup> Sheriff Grady Judd noted that video showed the bus driver was traveling under the speed limit in her proper lane and did nothing wrong.<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      United Automobile Insurance Company has filed a civil interpleader lawsuit involving the Polk County School Board, the estates of the two victims, and dozens of students following the fatal October… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzExXC9kb3dubG9hZC00LndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJXaW50ZXIgSGF2ZW4gU2Nob29sIEJ1cyBDcmFzaCBMYXdzdWl0OiBJbnN1cmVyIEZpbGVzIEludGVycGxlYWRlciIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.fhcHr1i46_hm55q1Rnd_mGaAbt_GfjsMvxEaqQghisYMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzExXC9kb3dubG9hZC00LndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJXaW50ZXIgSGF2ZW4gU2Nob29sIEJ1cyBDcmFzaCBMYXdzdWl0OiBJbnN1cmVyIEZpbGVzIEludGVycGxlYWRlciIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.fhcHr1i46_hm55q1Rnd_mGaAbt_GfjsMvxEaqQghisYMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87933,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87931\/revisions\/87933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}