CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. – A 62-year-old Lecanto man is dead after a drunk driver from Lady Lake smashed into his car on Sunday at around 2:25 pm.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, a Ford F150, was traveling southbound at a high rate of speed, passing other traffic on the shoulder of North Carl G Rose Highway.
Troopers say near East Spruce Drive, the Ford merged back into traffic and collided with the rear of a Honda Accord, which was also traveling southbound.
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The impact propelled the Honda across the roadway, where it first struck a bridge rail and then collided with another pickup truck traveling northbound.
Transported to an area hospital, the driver of the Honday, a 62-year-old Lecanto man, later died from injuries suffered during the crash.
Following the crash, the driver of the Ford first fled to a nearby gas station, abandoned his vehicle, and ran into a pasture where Citrus County Sheriff’s Deputies located him.
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FHP Troopers would later arrest him, Robert Brandon Vanzant, 31, of Lady Lake, and charge him with DUI manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, Leaving the scene with death, Leaving the scene with injuries, and Driving while license suspended with death. Vanzant was not injured during the incident.
The driver of the second pickup truck suffered only minor injuries in the crash.
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