These are scenes of a crash that occurred at 122 E. Third St. in Lehigh. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Wesley Flynn, who lives at 122 E. Third Street, in Lehigh Acres, said he heard the loudest squealing of wheel he has ever heard and then within seconds, a big bang which turned out to be a crash in his front yard.

“I was in the back yard sometime around 2:15 p.m. and I ran around the house to discover a car had crashed into my truck and into another car in my driveway and was left standing upside down against my new Ford truck,” Flynn said.

He said the crash totaled the truck and left the front of another car in the driveway smashed, too.

Flynn, who lives in the house with his aunt, said his sister and her three young children were visiting from up north. His aunt, Ruthie Turrell, had minutes before the crash left to take them for a ride.

“If she hadn’t done that, who knows what could have happened. The children could have been playing in the front yard when that car came crashing across the yard. They would have been killed. It would have been a tragedy,” Flynn said. The crash occurred on April 4.

The driver of the vehicle that crashed into the two vehicles was identified as Orlando Gonzalez Cruz, 22, of 305 Lake Drive, off of E. Third St., about a mile and a half away. He was driving a 2003 blue Toyoto, according to a witness.

Neighbors said the car was traveling at a high rate of speed and track marks are visible on E. Third St.

Flynn said that Sheriff’s deputies who arrived on the scene investigated and said the car had to be traveling at least 75 miles per hour. The speed limit in that neighborhood is 30 mph, but neighbors have complained to the Sheriff’s Office about speeding vehicles before.

Flynn said the crash was so bad that when it hit the vehicles, glass flew over the top of his house into the backyard. And his Ford truck, which he said he purchased recently, was pushed into the garage door and bounced back before leaving a dent in the garage front.

The driver of the car, Orlando Cruz, was rushed to Lee Memorial Hospital where he was in serious condition, according to his family members, who stopped by Flynn’s house the following morning to say their insurance company had been notified.

Family members, mostly who couldn’t speak English, except for one, apologized for the incident. She may have been the mother of the driver who lost control of his vehicle, Flynn said.

“We shook hands and they said they really were sorry it had happened,” he said.

“I’m waiting for the insurance people to come out here. I haven’t touched anything,” he said.

In the yard, only 10 feet away from where the crash vehicle landed was an indenture or “yaw” in the lawn where the car had suddenly stopped and from there flipped over, landing on its front fender standing straight up against the two vehicles. The front of the vehicle was lying against the two vehicles. Those on the scene could only see the bottom of the car that hit the two vehicles.

Quickly after the crash was heard by neighbors, several of them came running to see what had happened. Many were taking photos with their cell phones, Flynn said.

Flynn said some of his neighbors said they saw the car traveling at a high rate of speed when he came down E. Third St., several blocks from Lehigh Elementary School on Monday, April 4, when the crash occurred.

The car did not burst into flame, which could have been even a more terrible disaster, although the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept. sent out trucks just in case there had been a blaze.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to us; I hope it never does again and thank God that my aunt had just minutes before, taken the three young children for a ride.

“They were going over to Milwaukee Blvd., to pick fruit,” he said.

According to the Sheriff’s report, Brandon Wadingor, a witness to the crash and Chris Marohn were at the corner of Schoolside and E. 3rd St. when they say the blue Toyota traveling at a high rate of speed, passing another slower moving car. They said they heard the car skid and crash.

John Martin, another witness to the crash, said he saw a vehicle driving at a high rate of speed at 50 plus mph as he was coming out of the curve. The wheels dug into the lawn and the vehicle became airborne, flipping several times in the air before landing on the cars and house, Martin said.

Ian Martin who also witnessed the crash and said he heard a loud noise and thought it was a low flying plane, but instead he said he saw a car going very fast. The vehicle slid and become airborne and the driver was thrown out of the window before it struck the cars, he said.

The driver was interviewed later and told investigators he was traveling at about 40 mph when an animal ran out in front of him and he lost control of his vehicle.

Cruz was charged with operating a motor vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons and property. He was issued a traffic citation for reckless driving with a notice to appear date of April 25.