1 dead, 1 ejected in Fort Myers crash

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A car passenger is dead and the driver in critical condition after his car crashed into a building on Palm Beach Boulevard and Waverly Avenue Sunday morning, according to authorities.

The driver, Girard Deshon Battles, 40, of Lehigh Acres, is at Lee Memorial Hospital in critical condition, Florida Highway Patrol said. His passenger, 20-year-old Darren Lee Pollard was pronounced dead at the scene, FHP said.

Battles was driving east on Palm Beach Boulevard approaching the intersection at Waverly Avenue when he lost control of his car, according to FHP. His car began to spin as it also went into the shoulder, then hitting La Casita de Colores Caravaca around 3 a.m., FHP said. La Casita de Colores Caravaca is a Hispanic medicinal business.

The car continued to spin even after striking the building and Battles, who authorities said was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle, FHP said.

It was his passenger, Pollard, who was wearing a seatbelt. Witness Richard Woodard said he ran to the car after seeing the crash.

“I come out after it happened and, you know, went straight to the back of the car and that’s when I see him, you know. He was just slumped over,” Woodard said.

Woodard said he tried to comfort Pollard but listened to 20-year-old before he took his last breath.

“I put my hand on his shoulder and told him everything was going to be alright,” Woodard said. “He turned around and told me that let his family know that he loved them. And that was it.”

Now Woodard extends his condolences to Pollard’s family, even as the memory of the crash haunts him.

“It bothers me, you know what I mean?” he said. “To actually have somebody that passes away right there in front of you — that’s something you’re going to live with the rest of your life.”