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Spa's big day, delayed by careening car
By CARRIE JOHNSON INVERNESS -- It was to be a day devoted to mud facials and body wraps, a special open house for the more than 800 loyal customers of Ultimo Spa.
"I'm just glad nobody was seriously injured," said spa owner Daniela Buhler, as she surveyed the gaping hole in the rear of her store gouged by an out-of-control green Dodge Caravan. It all started with a 10 a.m. collision at State Road 44 and Independence Highway. The driver of a red Mercury Mountaineer attempting to make a left turn struck the eastbound Caravan, Inverness police said. The Caravan's driver, Robert Fahey, 55, of Brandon lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road, past a utility pole and through a grassy strip, smashing into the pedicure room of the spa at 2713 W SR 44. Fahey had to be extracted from his car by rescue workers and firefighters. He was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The Mercury's driver, Paul Garrecht, 55, of Inverness was not injured, said Inverness Officer Michael Tansey. There were no customers in the spa at the time of the wreck, but an employee had just left the pedicure room and was walking toward the front desk when the van struck. The employee, a nail technician, was not hurt but was "pretty shaken up," Buhler said. Carol Hamilton was pulling into work at Cridland and Cridland GMAC Real Estate, next to the spa, when she saw the crash. "I called 911 on my cell phone, and that's when I saw smoke coming from the side of the building," she said. The wreck knocked out electricity to most of the building. Hamilton said they were able to use extension cords to get some of their computers running, but most of their equipment was shut down. Garrecht, the Mercury's driver, will be cited for careless driving, Tansey said. Looking at the twisted metal, hunks of insulation and spilled nail varnish, Buhler sighed. She said she had no idea how much damage had been done. "But I guess it could have been much worse," she said.
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