ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The man who police said was driving a trolley that overturned last year in St. Augustine, injuring 12 people, is now facing charges.
Gregory Robinson, 72, was booked Friday into the St. Johns County jail on a felony charge of reckless driving with bodily injury and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving with property damage. He has since been released on bond.
Meanwhile, a negligence lawsuit has been filed in the crash by three family members who were in the trolley car that flipped on its side.
According to a police report, Robinson was driving the trolley near Charlotte and St. Francis streets in July when he gunned it as he was turning into the parking lot of the Oldest House Museum and the back trolley car toppled over. Police said some passengers were ejected and others were pinned between the trolley car and the road. Robinson continued driving, dragging the trolley car and trapped passengers, according to the report.
A dozen people were injured, and several passengers called 911.
“One person is very badly injured, and a lot of other people are injured significantly,” said one 911 caller.
Another 911 caller said: “We’re on the Old Town Trolley tour. It just tipped over. The whole trolley tipped over. People are very injured. We need 911.”
Attorney Shannon Saunders is representing a woman, her father and her mother who were in St. Augustine celebrating her 21st birthday when the crash happened. The family is suing Historic Tours of America, Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine and Robinson.
Saunders said the crash left the family with physical, mental and emotional distress.
“It was just a horrific event, a nightmare event for them,” Saunders told News4JAX.
Saunders said that the man he represents was rushed to a hospital for a concussion and that the man’s wife and daughter also suffered extensive injuries.
“They’ve suffered post-traumatic stress,” Saunders said. “They’ve, this is a preventable accident, which, you know, it should have never happened.”
The attorney said he expects they will seek hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover damages and the large amount of medical expenses the family received.