The family of a semi-truck driver killed during a high-speed chase in 2024 reached a settlement with the Florida Highway Patrol and the estate of Trooper Zachary Fink, who also died in the crash on Interstate 95.
The estate of Arsenio Más reached an “amicable resolution” with the two parties on Jan. 8, but the terms are confidential and the payout amount is not public, said Más estate attorney Oliver Silva. The case was closed Feb. 2.
“The process was tough, but my father was always beside me,” Más’ surviving daughter, Yeisel Más Dominguez, told TCPalm in Spanish. “It’s not peace, because I wish he was still alive, but I feel calm that it’s over.”
The settlement comes after FHP’s top official, Col. Gary Howze, said in October that the agency does not settle lawsuits and has paid “zero dollars” in damages stemming from high-speed chases that ended in fatal crashes.
Since the Fink and Más crash, there have been other high-profile chases that ended in multiple deaths. In April 2024, four teenagers were killed during an FHP pursuit in Gainesville. In November 2025, an FHP-involved chase killed four people in Ybor City.
Zachary Fink and Arsenio Más
Más, 55, of Homestead, and Fink, 26, died Feb. 2, 2024, after an early-morning collision during a chase. Authorities were trying to catch Michael Anthony Addison in a Kia Forte in the area of Crosstown Parkway. He was southbound on Interstate 95 when he did a U-turn and started heading northbound into oncoming traffic.
When Fink, a three-year veteran, tried to do the same, his patrol car and a semi driven by Más collided. Más died at the scene while Fink died at HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce.
Más’s son, Reynier Rodriguez, of Coral Gables, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Dec. 27 in St. Lucie County Circuit Court on behalf of himself and Más’ two other surviving children: Dominguez and Nataly de la Caridad Bassi, records show.
Fink’s father, Robert Fink, filed a counterclaim April 21, arguing Más was the one responsible for the crash. The counterclaim was against three entities: the estate of a semi-truck driver who also died in the crash; the freight company he drove for; and the owners of the truck and trailer.
The Fink estate voluntarily dropped its counterclaim against Reynier Rodriguez on Jan. 20 with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled later.
The Fink estate did not respond to TCPalm’s requests for comment.
FHP loosens its pursuit policy
The collision on I-95 in Port St. Lucie happened just six weeks after FHP loosened its standards for when it’s safe to chase, allowing for some riskier maneuvers that are discouraged by national law enforcement agencies, such as driving on the wrong side of the road as Fink was doing.Since FHP changed its pursuit policy, the number of FHP-related deaths during pursuits has tripled, and the use of PIT maneuvers — meaning precision immobilization technique — has more than doubled, according to FHP data.
Ages of the deceased ranged from 14 to 71.
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FHP’s pursuit policy was called into question again in November after a trooper-involved crash on a busy street in Ybor City killed four people and injured 13 others. Officials said the trooper tried an unsuccessful PIT maneuver on the fleeing driver, less than a half-mile before the crash. “The driver was already operating recklessly and endangering lives before troopers engaged,” spokesperson Madison Kessler told the Tampa Bay Times at the time. “Our troopers followed policy, disengaged prior to when the suspect entered a crowded area, and the driver lost control on his own. This tragedy rests solely on the suspect’s reckless actions, not law enforcement.”Howze, Kessler and Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Director Dave Kerner have not responded to TCPalm’s requests for comment.
Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FHP, Fink estate settle wrongful death suit with truck driver’s family
Reporting by Jack Lemnus, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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