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Highway race leads

Highway race leads to crash into store

Three people were charged with racing on a highway after a pickup truck crashed through the front of a Verizon Wireless store in Orange Park on Monday night, causing serious injuries to a man inside.

State troopers said Robert Barnes, 20, of Jacksonville, was driving the Ford pickup and was racing a Volkswagen Jetta driven by 19-year-old Robert Purdy, of Tiverton, R.I. Amanda Sams, 19, of Middleburg, was a passenger in the Jetta.

Troopers said the drivers were heading north on Blanding Boulevard, south of Knight Boxx Road, just after 8 p.m. Troopers said the pickup was in the right lane and the Jetta was in the center lane.

The pickup veered to the left and sideswiped the Jetta, then veered hard right and traveled off the road, striking the front of the Verizon building in the 1300 block of Blanding Boulevard, troopers said.

A metal support post struck a desk, which then hit 46-year-old Gerit Preble, of Jacksonville, who was inside the store, troopers said. Preble was also injured from other debris and broken glass. He was taken to Orange Park Medical Center in serious condition.

The damage to the building is estimated at $20,000.

The pickup came to a stop on the north side of the store against a parked car, which sustained $500 in damage to the right side, troopers said.

The Jetta came to a stop on the east shoulder of Blanding Boulevard, north of Knight Boxx Road.

Barnes, Purdy and Sams were uninjured.

 

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