A drunk driving suspect is facing a manslaughter charge after a fatal crash that snarled traffic early Thursday morning on Interstate 75 in Sumter County.
John Andrew Henderson, 40, of Kissimmee, had been driving a blue Hyundai which crashed into a U-Haul trailer being towed by a Tennessee man’s pickup at 2:44 a.m. Thursday near Mile Marker 323, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol. As a result of the collision, the 32-year-old Spring Hill, Tenn. man’s pickup crashed into a guardrail and overturned. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic from Sumter County Fire Rescue. A 31-year-old Spring Hill, Tenn. woman traveling in the truck was seriously injured.
A witness pointed to Henderson who was sitting on the guardrail. His Hyundai had sustained heavy front-end damage and also hit the guardrail. He told an investigator he had left a friend’s house and was heading home to Kissimmee. His speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot. He was reluctant to take part in field sobriety exercises. He struggled through the exercises he attempted. He refused to provide a breath sample.
Henderson was transported to the UF Health-The Villages Hospital freestanding ER at Brownwood. While he was there, the investigator decided “a forced blood draw was required.” A nurse took the sample from Henderson’s left arm and turned it over to the investigator.
Henderson was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $161,000 bond.
The accident and its subsequent investigation shut down traffic for several hours on I-75.
