Victims identified in fatal crash at Cape Coral billiards hall

A Cape Coral man was killed when a drunk driver rammed a pickup truck into a billiards hall on Pine Island Road Monday afternoon.

Those who survived — two people and the driver of the truck — were taken to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries after the crash at Diamond Billiards, said Detective Sgt. Dana Coston, spokesman for the Cape Coral Police Department.

Police said Ronald Gravel, 60, of Cape Coral, died of injuries he received when the Ford pickup smashed into the front of the Pine Island Road billiards hall.

Police identified the driver as William Gulliver, 75, of St. James City.

Also severely injured in the crash was Tracy Booker, 52, of Cape Coral. A third person, Linda Girard, 58, of Cape Coral, suffered minor injuries.

He did not release a blood alcohol level for Gulliver, but Coston did say it appears to be an alcohol-related crash. Criminal charges are pending.

Gravel is the 62nd person to die in a Lee County traffic crash in 2015.

Gravel's father in law, Jack Glynos, said Gravel was at the billiards hall because he was shooting some pool after working there as a cook.

"He was sitting down on a stool and all of the sudden a truck came through the building," Glynos said. “I don’t believe it."

Glynos said his daughter married Gravel nearly 32 years ago. The couple moved from Peabody, Mass., to Florida in 1989.

They have a 30-year-old son and a 36-year-old daughter together, both of whom live in Southwest Florida, said Glynos, 80.

Diamond Billiards has started a GoFundMe account to raise money to help cover funeral costs for Gravel's family: "Tonight, we lost our beloved employee and friend from a very freak accident. A pick up truck came through the windows at Diamonds and crushed Ron between the truck and bar, killing him."

Patrons paced the parking lot with disbelief on their face and cigarettes in their hands as police walked through the hole in the front of their beloved pool hall.

Coston said he didn't know how many were inside when the truck struck the building.

The police report said that Gulliver, parked at Diamond Billiards, got into his truck and after a few minutes drove forward at a high speed.  The pickup made its way over a parking stop, sidewalk and through the pool hall's windows overlooking the parking lot.

The report said Gulliver's truck hit the bar head-on at a point where three people were sitting. The truck hit all three, trapping two between the bar and the vehicle.