Speeding Truck Slices Pole

SPRING HILL - The loud boom interrupted Dustin Hall's Christmas.

He had just finished eating dinner and was resting on the sofa when he heard the sound.

His wife, Tina, was on the computer when she heard what she thought resembled a clap of thunder.

Outside Shannon L. Bones was walking toward the garage shaken and with a gash on his forehead. His pickup truck was flipped over and a power pole was cut in half.

"This is a really bad day," Tina said while cleaning vomit off her baby daughter's shirt.

When Bones' Ford F150 crashed into the power pole, the electricity went out inside the Halls' home, located at 12214 Spring Hill Drive, east of the Fentress Court.

The water main also was damaged. There was no running water inside. Tina Hall had to dab her daughter's skin and clothes with a dry bathroom towel.

Little information was known about the accident. Deputies at the scene said Bones was momentarily unconscious and unable to remember the accident.

He was transported by helicopter to a Tampa-area hospital.

The vehicle was traveling westbound along Spring Hill Drive shortly before 3:30 p.m. It crossed over the oncoming lanes and veered off the four-lane road, crashing into the pole head on.

The truck flipped over and rested facing east. The top half of the pole and transformer were dangling from the wires overhead. The Halls' house was the only one without power.

District Chief Kevin Carroll was at the scene. He gave Dustin Hall his card and cellphone number in case power could not be restored and he needed supplies or a place to stay.

Hall and his wife are the parents of four kids, ranging in ages 6 to 18 months.

The family moved to Spring Hill from Maryland three months ago and has no relatives nearby.

Tina Hall said she was thankful for Carroll's gesture, "especially because it's Christmas."

Representatives with Withlacoochee Electric were at the scene and were working to replace the pole. They estimated the job would take three hours.