LAKE COUNTY, Florida—It was a busy Saturday for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.
Deputies and troopers responded to a multitude of vehicle crashes in the Eustis, Paisley and Umatilla areas Saturday, according to LCSO Lt. Fred Jones. At County Road 42 and Deerhaven Road, a truck flipped and before deputies arrived, the driver fled the scene.
“The bloodhound and helicopter conducted an extensive search. The driver was not located,” Jones told Inside Lake.
The second crash was at County 437, south of State Road 44 in Eustis. The driver left the road, struck an oak tree and suffered severe head trauma. The driver was extracted from the vehicle and airlifted to AdventHealth Ocala; no other information was available at press time.
A third crash, at County Road 450A, just east of Crystal Lane in Umatilla, occurred around 10:45 p.m.
“When deputies arrived, they found the car split into two parts. The driver could not be located. An extensive search was conducted using a bloodhound and helicopter. The driver was eventually located at a friend’s house down the road from the crash,” Jones said in an email.
The 45-year-old Eustis man was driving a 2001 Acura CL Coupe when he crashed and told troopers he walked away from the crash because he did not have his phone, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi told Inside Lake.
The driver was transported by ground to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford with non-life-threatening injuries, Crescenzi said.
If you have information on any of the crashes, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
