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Worker dies as truck slams into home

The man, 38, drives a pickup out of his company's Inverness lot, onto a lawn, up an embankment and into the house.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published July 2, 2005

INVERNESS - Nearly a year after a Stanely Steemer Carpet Cleaner employee accidentally left his baby to die in an overheated car, tragedy befell another employee as he drove from that same parking lot.

Garey Franklin Wood, 38, of Lake City died Friday morning after he pulled his pickup out of the lot, drove up an embankment and slammed through the wall of a house and into a bathroom.

Paramedics arrived at the scene within moments, but they found no signs of life in Wood, Citrus sheriff's Deputy Pete Doyle said. Wood was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:34 p.m. No one was inside the house at the time of the wreck.

Moments before the accident, Wood and another carpet cleaner had loaded several cardboard boxes into Wood's truck bed in the parking lot. He hadn't complained of any pain at the time, the co-worker told investigators.

Wood had no known medical conditions, Doyle said. But preliminary investigation showed the accident may have been caused by a heart problem. An autopsy will be performed.

After loading the boxes, Wood got into his gray Dodge Dakota and pulled out of the parking lot. But rather than turning onto Southerly Avenue, he drove across the road and onto the lawn of a nearby home. Instead of slowing, the truck drove up an embankment and crashed into the house, a witness told investigators.

The witness, also a Stanley Steemer employee, ran up to help Wood, who was still alive at the time, but his breathing was slow and labored, Doyle said. By the time paramedics arrived, he'd stopped breathing.

Wood's family, including his parents, former wife and teenage son, live in Valdosta, Ga., and were not present at the hospital Friday, Doyle said.

Employees at the Inverness Stanley Steemer, 911 Eden Drive, declined to comment.

It was a bit of luck that no one was home at 800 Southerly Ave. at the time of the crash, said homeowner Marlene Ryan, 53.

Mrs. Ryan and her husband, David, 58, just bought the house last week. They moved in Saturday. Mrs. Ryan had been ironing clothes until about noon, but she left to run errands. When she returned, she found a truck in her master bathroom.

Luckily, the family spaniel, R.D., was in her crate in another part of the house and wasn't hurt, Mrs. Ryan said.

The Ryans decided to move from Lake County to Citrus County to be with other family members. They loved the quiet of Inverness, she said.

"Really, it was for the peace and quiet. So much for that!" she said.

Investigators estimated the damage to the house at $25,000 to $30,000.

Almost a year ago, this parking lot just off U.S. 41 S was the scene of another tragedy.

Mackenzee Hynes, a 31/2-month-old baby, died July 31 after her father accidentally locked her inside his car in 90-degree heat.

When her father, Edward, also a carpet cleaner for Stanley Steemer, started work at 7 a.m., he forgot his daughter was in his car. He was supposed to take her to day care, but he forgot.

--Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 2, 2005, 01:21:22]