PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A 62-year-old Putnam County woman was critically injured after a driver accused of driving under the influence crashed into her home late Sunday night.
Her brother told News4JAX he thinks a couch may have saved her life.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a man was driving a Nissan 350Z on Lake Como Drive around 11:30 p.m. when for unknown reasons he ran off the road and hit a fence.
After striking the fence, the car continued to travel south and crashed through the house and injured the woman, FHP said.
Unbelievably heartbreaking…
— Brianna Andrews (@BriannaDAndrews) December 20, 2021
This is what’s left of a home on Lake Como Dr. after a driver under the influence crashed into late last night.
A 73-year-old woman was injured and taken to the hospital. She lives here with her husband. Her family is asking for prayers. @wjxt4 pic.twitter.com/2po5bbbJay
The family said the woman, Sylvia Warrick, was transported to Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach.
The driver of the car, who suffered minor injuries, was placed under arrest for allegedly driving under the influence.
“I mean, what safer place to live than a cement block home, until some idiot. He’s an idiot,” said Warrick’s brother David Newman.
Newman was at the home Monday morning picking up the pieces while processing the fact his younger sister is in critical care at the hospital.
“I’m scared right now,” he said.
When the accident happened, Newman said Warrick was sitting in her rocking chair behind the couch. The car’s impact hit the couch first.
“I think that saved her life, I really do,” Newman said.
The family said Warrick and her husband moved to the home two years ago from Indiana to be closer to family. She just had her kitchen redone earlier this year.
A damage assessment hasn’t been done yet, but repairs are expected to cost thousands of dollars. For the family that’s the least of their concerns right now.
The driver who was arrested after the crash was identified as Walter Conklin, 39, of Virginia. The crash report said he was not wearing a seatbelt and he now faces three counts of DUI.
According to Conklin’s arrest report, he told investigators he just left the bar and was heading to his dad’s house.
He said he drank three beers, but according to the report, his BAC was .107, more than the legal limit.