No one hurt after truck crashes into East Arlington apartment

It was all because someone cut him off.

That’s what the 24-year-old driver of a black pickup truck is saying after crashing into the living room of an East Arlington apartment complex early this morning.

A property manager at The Dunes apartment complex on McCormick Road near Monument Road says they were informed of what happened around 6 a.m. and that the sole occupant living in that apartment was home at the time but wasn’t hurt.

That was around the same time WOKV received an Open Mic from a witness who claims he saw a vehicle going the wrong way on McCormick before crashing into that first floor apartment.

Other than some minor chest discomfort, the driver of that 2002 Chevy 1500 - Carlos Andres Aguirre, a Jacksonville resident - says he wasn’t hurt, either, but he plans to get checked out at a local hospital. He says no one else was in the vehicle with him at the time.

According to Aguirre, he was heading east on McCormick when someone in what he believes was a Toyota Corolla cut him off, forcing him to cross over the median and through the westbound lanes of McCormick.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the truck hit a small tree in the median before crossing the road, then went over a sidewalk and down a small depression, going straight through a picket fence and the glass doors of the apartment’s living room.

The front of the Chevy also went through the outer wall, coming to a stop with its front sticking out of that wall and the back end visible through the shattered doors.

It took several hours for FHP, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire & Rescue to clear that apartment and the one above it of people and make sure the apartment above wouldn’t collapse before sending tow truck workers in to get the truck out.

The process to get that truck out caused road blockage for around 30 minutes, primarily affecting westbound drivers on McCormick.

We’ve since learned that Aguirre will be cited for careless driving and that the people living in the apartment above as well as the one the truck went into won’t be allowed back inside until a full damage assessment is done.

The FHP accident report also notes that troopers don't believe alcohol or drugs were a factor, but it also did not note any other vehicles involved, including the driver Aguirre says cut him off and left the scene.