FHP: Driver in wrong-way crash near Disney’s Animal Kingdom fell asleep while driving

The driver in a fiery wrong-way crash that left 11 people hospitalized near Disney’s Animal Kingdom fell asleep at the wheel, the Florida Highway Patrol said Sunday.

Megan Hester-Villalobos, 36, of Groveland was driving south on Sherberth Road about 6 p.m. Saturday when she veered into a northbound lane and crashed head-on into a Disney shuttle bus, officials said.

Hester-Villalobos, her husband, Jesse Villalobos, 37, and their 7-year-old son were injured. Eight others traveling on the Disney shuttle were injured.

Hester-Villalobos’ son told troopers the family had been at Disney all day and his mother fell asleep at the wheel of their Isuzu sport utility vehicle, FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said.

The boy told officials his mom then traveled onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into the bus, Montes said.

Both vehicles burst into flames near Osceola Parkway and Black Lake Road, about a mile from Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Hester-Villalobos’ sister, Wendi Hester, told the Orlando Sentinel the boy told the family a different story about why his mother was in the wrong lane.

The boy said a van had swerved into their lane and Hester-Villalobos had to veer into a northbound lane to prevent crashing into the van, Hester said.

Hester said the boy was only bruised and had seat-belt burns. His parents both have broken bones and are still hospitalized. She said the family frequently visit Disney parks.

Hester said her sister was unconscious until today and doesn’t remember the crash.

Charges are pending against Hester-Villalobos and troopers say they don’t suspect the crash was caused by any impairment, Montes said.

Hester-Villalobos has been ticketed at least five times in Lake County since 2009, court records show.

She was arrested in August on retail theft charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. A judge also ordered her drivers license be suspended six months and she pay more than $150 in restitution as punishment for the theft charge.

She’s also the daughter of Groveland’s former City Manager Ralph Hester. In 2009, she called her father complaining she’d been pulled over and ticketed after running a red light and driving 23 miles over the posted speed limit.

She and her father then accused the officer of targeting them because he’d tightened budgets in the aftermath of the economic downturn. Hester-Villalobos told her father the officer was rude and intimidating.

She fought the ticket and a judge dismissed it, court records show.

Ralph Hester died later that year.

Check back for updates in this breaking-news story.

chayes@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5493