Two people were critically injured and three others were seriously hurt during a Monday morning crash in Marion County that involved six Ocala residents.
The incident happened about 8:30 a.m. when a 2003 Buick Century driven by 28-year-old Robert Kitchens allegedly ran a stop sign at the intersection of NW 115th Avenue and County Road 464B, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
Kitchens was traveling south on NW 115th Avenue when he drove into the path of a 2017 Nissan Titan driven by 72-year-old John Elliott, a FHP report states.
Kitchen’s Buick struck the right front of Elliott’s pickup truck and the vehicles then traveled off the roadway into a grass pasture at the southwest corner of the intersection, where they both struck a wood fence, the FHP report says, adding that Elliott’s pickup then overturned and landed on its roof.
Kitchens was traveling with four passengers in his car, while Elliott was alone in his truck. Kitchens was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center in critical condition, while one of his passengers, 16-year-old Tony Woodruff, was taken to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, also in critical condition, the report says.
Two other passengers, 13-year-old Alissa Woodruff and 21-year-old Yasmine Martinez, also were transported to Shands in serious condition, while Elliott was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center in serious condition, the report says.
A fourth passenger in Kitchens’ vehicle, 17-year-old Nathaniel Woodruff, wasn’t injured in the crash.
Kitchens wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and it’s unknown if Tony Woodruff was wearing one. But everyone else involved in the crash was wearing seatbelts, the report says, adding that charges are pending the outcome of the FHP investigation.