An Ocala woman was arrested Thursday afternoon after a three-car crash left one person in critical condition.
Angenette Marie Welk, 44, was charged with one count of driving under the influence with serious bodily harm and two counts of DUI with property damage.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the crash happened at the intersection of NW 60th Avenue and U.S. Hwy. 27 when Welk’s 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche slammed into the back of a 2017 Hyundai Elantra driven by 18-year-old Shiyanne Kroll, of Seattle. The impact pushed the front of Kroll’s car partially underneath a horse trailer that was being pulled by a 2016 Freightliner semi-truck driven by 65-year-old Kevin McMinn of Ocala.
Kroll and her passenger, 60-year-old Sandra Clarkson, of Sarasota, were transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center. Clarkson was critically injured, while Kroll’s injuries were classified as minor. Neither McMinn or Welk were injured in the crash.
During the DUI investigation, Welk first told a trooper that she was driving home from a nearby hotel where she had been staying and then said she was trying to get to a friend’s house. Welk also said “she thought” she was traveling on NW 60th Avenue when the crash occurred, the report says.
Welk told the trooper investigating the crash that she dropped her phone and when she looked up, she was about to collide with Kroll’s sedan.
The trooper noticed that Welk had glossy eyes, slow, slurred and mumbled speech, lethargic movements, Gait Ataxia (lack of voluntary muscle movements) and a moderate odor of alcohol on her breath, the report says.
Welk voluntarily agreed to participate in several field sobriety tests, which she failed. She also agreed to give a blood sample, which was taken by a paramedic at the scene.
Welk was transported to the Marion County Jail, where she provided two breath samples showing .172 and .165 blood alcohol content – both twice the legal limit in Florida of .08. She was booked into the jail on $10,000 bond.
The crash was partially captured on a trooper’s in-car camera, the report states, adding that the accident scene was cleared without any major delays. Units from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Marion County Fire Rescue provided assistance.
