Family copes and recovers after driver plows through crowd, injuring 8

A crash sent eight people to the hospital the night of July 15, including 18-year-old Betsy Soto, who was still in the ICU Friday.

Antonia Rosas, 51, is accused of driving under the influence, plowing into eight people outside Mi Mercado Foods in Naples with his vehicle.

As family members watch the surveillance video, there’s little reaction as the images are still fresh in their mind from that horrible night.

One family says they’ll never be able to get out of their heads. Bruises are just a small reflection of what Luis Merino and his wife Claudia are feeling inside.

Claudia says Mi Mercado is a place shes never been before, and because of the timing, will always regret bringing her children there.

Rosas sits in the Naples Jail facing multiple charges of a DUI and hit and run.

He’s accused of injuring 8 people that night, but Claudia says he’s the lucky one, “He’s safe in jail, and her family is suffering. You don’t expect to spend a bill of $50,000 on something that wasn’t your choice”

Neither she nor her husband can work at the moment because of injuries from the crash. Instead, they’ll use the time they’re forced to spend at home to recover together,
both physically and mentally.

Claudia’s son has a cut in his upper lip and her daughter’s leg is bruised and swollen.
She says their next priority while they’re home is to figure out how to chip away at their mounting hospital bills.

For more information and updates on their recovery visit https://www.gofundme.com/5tow500