OKEECHOBEE – Treasure Island resident Patric Boles approached the Okeechobee County Commission at the March 9 meeting with concerns about traffic safety.

Boles said he lives at the intersection S.E. 34th Avenue and S.E. 28th Street.

“It’s a major cut through from 441 to SR 710,” he explained. “I’m used to the boom boxes and the noise from the trucks."

He said he has done what he can about the traffic noise by adding insulation.

“I have always thought it was a safety issue because we don’t have a guard rail and there are no caution lights there,” he continued.

“About three weeks ago, about 1 a.m. on a Sunday, a vehicle struck my home and hit it at such a speed – greater than 50 mph according to the policeman and never touched her brakes, never slowed at all – and moved my home 2 feet off the foundation, effectively ruined my home. I’m dealing with several insurance adjustors.

“This woman was out on bond on a DUI back in July where she assaulted the other driver, a 65-year-old man. I don’t understand why she is still driving. I don’t understand a lot of things, but that is for another day,” he continued.

“What I am asking for at this location is the possibility to consider a speed break or rumble strips there,” said Boles. “It’s a 30 mph road. Nobody drives 30 mph on it. It’s 25 mph on 28th Street and nobody does that.”

He said when the deputies are there, the cars slow down but as soon as the deputies leave, the traffic speeds up again.

He asked the commission to do what they can to “slow that traffic down, where they run that STOP sign all day long in both directions.”

Commission Chairman David Hazellief said they will ask the engineering staff to look at it and determine the best thing to do.

According to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office report, the accident which damaged the single-family home just north of the intersection of S.E. 34^th Avenue and S.E. 28^th Street occurred on Feb. 12, 2023 between midnight and 1 a.m.

Okeechobee County Fire Rescue (OCFR) responded to the scene to find a 1997 blue Ford pickup truck partially inside the residence.

The driver, later identified as Kristina Peacock Sargent, was the only person in the vehicle and had been trapped inside the truck by the crash. OCFR had to extract her from the vehicle. She was transported to Raulerson Hospital.

No one else was injured in the crash.

A witness to the crash who was a passenger in another vehicle said the blue pickup pulled out in front of them. He said the truck accelerated through the STOP sign and drove directly into the house. He said the pickup did not have headlights illuminated. He called 911.

The truck owner told deputies Sargent did not have permission to drive his pickup truck and did not have a valid driver’s license.