ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — Eric Truluck has many questions but few answers.
Where will he live now? Where will he store all of these belongings? And most importantly, will his girlfriend be okay?
Truluck was living with his girlfriend at a Zephyrhills mobile home off 5th Avenue, but they can live there no longer after a Monday night explosion.
“I thought somebody drove by and was doing a drive-by with big, big guns," Truluck said. “If you know what a .308 sounds like, a .30-06, okay? This is way bigger.”
The explosion was the sound of an SUV crashing into the home at a high rate of speed.
Truluck says he was in the home's carport painting his motorcycle when it happened.
“And when it hit, it knocked me," he said. "I landed on my belly."
However, his bigger worry was his girlfriend, Donna, 64, who was inside watching TV — in the living room — which is where the SUV stopped.
“I got in to check on her, and I’m scared to death that I’m going to open this door and she’s going to be dead, man," he said.
She did survive, but she’s in the hospital. Truluck said she has broken bones.
“That’s my best friend, man," he said through tears. "That’s my friend.”
Zephyrhills Police Department identified the driver as 36-year-old Kyle Youngblood. The department said Youngblood may have been driving under the influence. It also said Youngblood ran away from the crash scene but was later caught and arrested.
“You almost killed my ol’ girl, man. I’m going to tell ya, man. And you took the coward way out and tried to run off," Truluck said. "I don’t got no respect for you.”
He and his girlfriend may have survived the chaos, but figuring out what to do next will mean a lot of hardship and a lot of questions.
According to Zephyrhills Police, Youngblood has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and reckless driving. He is also being investigated for DUI.
The department asks anyone with information on the crash to contact them at 813-78-0500 option 1.
"These should be freak accidents, not a natural disaster"
Dozens of Florida State University students and community allies marched through the streets of Tallahassee on Wednesday, demanding urgent action from state lawmakers on gun reform after a deadly campus shooting that left two dead and at least six others wounded.
