A 75-year-old New Yorker told an investigator his foot fell asleep Tuesday night moments before his rented Nissan Sentra plowed into the bar area of Sonny’s BBQ restaurant in Lake Sumter Landing.
Robert Bruce Henderson of Middletown, N.Y. had been driving at 6:47 p.m. northbound on Canal Street approaching Old Camp Road when his foot fell asleep and he hit the gas pedal rather than the brake, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol. He also said he had been confused by detour signage near the restaurant.
The vehicle ran into the outside patio area and struck three people in the bar identified as 53-year-old George Curtis Brooks of the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Miona, 69-year-old James Yoder of the Village of Polo Ridge and 73-year-old Joseph Beauregard of the Village of Summerhill. Beauregard was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center and Brooks was transported to The Villages Regional Hospital. Yoder escaped serious injury.
A passenger in Henderson’s vehicle, 72-year-old Susan Henderson, also of Middletown, N.Y. was also transported to The Villages Regional Hospital. Bruce Henderson escaped serious injury. He was ticketed on a charge of careless driving.
