Woman injured, dog dead after vehicle plunges 10 feet below road

A Seminole County woman was battered and injured and her dog was killed after their vehicle plunged several feet through a washed out road.

Heartbroken and without a car, she told News 9 she was lucky to be alive.

Lindsey Pruitt’s car was swallowed up early Tuesday morning after torrential rain damaged the gravel road Monday evening. Tons of gravel and a larger tin horn were brought in to repair the road.

Lindsey Pruitt weathered Monday’s storms at her mother’s animal shelter. “When David Payne predicts bad weather, listen,” said Seminole County resident Lindsey Pruitt.

After the storms passed, she was driving back to her trailer when disaster struck. “The next thing I know, my mom was screaming my name over the loudspeaker,” Pruitt said.

Their car disappeared three meters below where the road once ran. “I heard the water rushing. There was water in my car at that time,” Pruitt said.

Lindsey checked on her dogs Banjo and Joleen. “I see Joleen all over the backseat and I knew something was wrong. I checked for her pulse,” Pruitt said.

Her beloved Rottweiler lab was gone. “She was my protector. She was his best friend,” Pruitt said.

Lindsey got out of her crumpled car.

She used her phone’s flashlight to call emergency responders. “I’m standing on my car right now and I’m putting my arm all the way up so they can see me,” Pruitt said.

Tim Porter, Seminole District 2 county commissioner, said two other streets were submerged under water that same night – after tin horns filled with debris blocked the flow of water.

But Lindsey and other county residents like Jerry Reed believe road maintenance is to blame. “It didn’t just happen overnight. I’ve lived here for 45 years and I can’t maintain the roadside ditches,” said Seminole County District 2 Commissioner Tim Porter.

Porter says the county is aware of the necessary repairs. “We don’t have enough budget to do what we need to do,” Porter said.

“Maybe he only has so much money to work with and that’s all he can do, but that definitely needs to be fixed. I know that,” Reed said.

Lindsey’s vehicle was totaled in the incident. County officials tell News 9 Lindsey will likely have to file a claim to receive compensation.