Two people were killed when their vehicle crashed into three trees early Saturday morning near Spanish Springs Town Square in The Villages.
A 30-year-old Port St. Lucie man was at the wheel of a 2019 Audi at 12:20 a.m. traveling westbound on Avenida Central when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway and traveled onto the shoulder, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The front of the vehicle struck a large oak tree in the median and overturned near the intersection of Avenida Central and Del Mar Drive. The roof of the vehicle then struck two more oak trees in the median.
The driver and a passenger, a 25-year-old Belleview man, were pronounced dead at the scene. Both men had been wearing their seatbelts. The crash remains under investigation.
A crew was busy cleaning up the accident scene on Saturday morning. A member of the crew said a wheel from the vehicle came off and landed on the other side of a nearby villa wall. The engine and transmission were ejected from the vehicle upon striking the trees.
Neighbors said their windows shook due to the impact from the crash.