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Wrong-Way Crash Just North of Eustis Sends 2 to the Hospital Friday

Eustis, Inside Scoop, Leesburg, Umatilla / By / / 1 minute of reading

DONA VISTA, Florida—The Florida Highway Patrol continues to investigate a serious crash that occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Friday night.

A Nissan Versa being driven by a 37-year-old Leesburg man was traveling southbound on State Road 19 in the northbound inside lane, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi told Inside Lake.  

As he approached Orange Avenue, a 36-year-old Umatilla man driving a Ford Taurus southbound on State Road 19 attempted to make a left turn on Orange Avenue and the front of the Nissan struck the left side of the Ford at 9:50 p.m., Crescenzi said.

The Umatilla man was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical but stable condition and the Leesburg man was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares with serious injuries and admitted. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts.

“The investigating trooper advised he submitted (the Nissan driver) for a medical reexamination,” Crescenzi said in an email to Inside Lake. The crash remains under investigation.

About The Author

Publisher Marilyn M. Aciego was born and raised in Lake County and is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She began her journalism career at LSSC and in 2023 she was honored with LSSC’s Distinguished Alumni Professional Achievement Award. She began working at the Daily Commercial while she was in college and continued her career there as a reporter after she graduated. In her 20+ year-career, she covered many of the area’s top stories including the disappearance of Trenton Duckett, the death of beloved Sheriff Chris Daniels, both in 2006 and an exclusive interview with then-Eustis Police Capt. Gary Winheim, who was ambushed and shot by a wanted felon in 2019. In addition to Inside Lake, Marilyn is the single mom of a teenaged son and the Florida Bureau Chief for an international media organization.

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