Two fatal crashes reported in Sarasota

Two people were killed in separate single-vehicle crashes on Christmas morning, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Traffic was detoured from both crash sites before dawn, the first in the 700 block of Beach Road on Siesta Key and the second  at 17th Street and Country Meadows Boulevard in northern Sarasota County.

Both roads were reported to be open to traffic by 7 a.m.

The sheriff’s office did not identify the victims by name and said the Florida Highway Patrol was investigating.

The FHP reported a 24-year-old Sarasota man was killed in the Beach Road crash. According to a trooper's report, the man was driving east near Beachway Drive around 1:30 a.m. when he failed to negotiate a left turn, left the road and hit a utility pole. 

The FHP reported a 54-year-old Sarasota man was killed in the 17th Street crash. According to a trooper's report, the man was westbound around 3 a.m. when he lost control of his vehicle, which rotated and crashed into a traffic signal support pole on the north side of the road.