INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Four people were hurt – including two with critical injuries – after a truck struck a car and then a bedroom to a home early Saturday, fire rescue crews said. The incident left a sleeping couple trapped underneath the vehicle.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office detained the truck driver, identified as Shane Russel Wilson, 37, of Iowa, according to Florida Highway Patrol, the agency investigating the wreck. Highway troopers charged Wilson with fleeing the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injuries and four counts of driving under the influence with property damage or personal injury.
Wilson was held Saturday at the Indian River County Jail without bond.
The collision happened about 1 a.m. in the 200 block of 27th Avenue Southwest, just south of 1st Street Southwest, Indian River County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kyle Kofke said. The black four-door Ford F-250 pickup, carrying a trailer, was traveling southbound on 27th Avenue Southwest when it veered into the northbound lanes and sideswiped a silver Kia Optima, FHP spokesman Lt. Yanko Reyes said.
Reyes said the pickup driver, Wilson, swerved to the right and crashed into a nearby residence.
A 45-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman were in bed when the truck smashed through the bedroom and ran them over, Reyes said. The sheriff’s office on Saturday released images that showed firefighters surrounding the truck in the home.
The man and woman in the house were taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce with critical injuries, Kofke said.
The man was taken by ambulance while the woman was flown, Reyes said. The man and woman in the Kia were taken to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital with minor injuries, Kofke said.
Highway troopers are no longer releasing the names of crash victims because of privacy reasons.
After the wreck, Wilson ran from the scene down to the canal line. A sheriff’s helicopter helped K-9 deputies locate Wilson in the nearby woods, where he was detained.
No further details were immediately available.
Photos provided by Indian River County Sheriff’s Office