JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is still investigating what caused a large truck to crash into a local business Friday night.
It sent five people to the hospital, including two children.
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Multiple people in the area told us they often see cars blasting through the intersection of Cahoon Road and West Beaver Street.
They also described Bennett’s Ace Hardware and its owner as staples of the community.
Family members spent all day Saturday putting up a containment structure around the destroyed storefront — the sand truck still jammed into the building.
Video we obtained from a neighbor captured the efforts of first responders as they pulled four victims out of the rubble Friday night.
Among them was the state’s owner Dennis Bennett, whom we were told was still in the ICU as of Saturday afternoon.
We spoke with at least 10 people near the scene.
All said the store and the family that ran it were indispensable to the community, including Melissa McCall.
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“They were really loving helping people. No issues with them. They’d help you with anything they could, I mean they was just good people,” said McCall.
JSO is investigating what led to the crash, but McCall and other residents said the intersection is dangerous.
“Oh, it’s terrible for speeding through here. I mean it’s 35 and they’re doing 50, 60, 70 miles an hour,” said McCall.
The Bennett family understandably declined to speak on camera, but told us they started work on the barrier late Friday night.
Based on what neighbors told us, the Bennett family can rest assured everyone in the community is praying for all those who were injured to make a full and speedy recovery.
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