Clearwater Wreck Leads To Charges Of Vehicular Homicide

IONTB.com reported Tuesday on a tragic crash in which a Clearwater man was charged with vehicular manslaughter after his passenger was killed in a car accident.

Clearwater Police as well as Clearwater Fire and Rescue both responded to an incident around 12:23 p.m. near the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Vista Way in Clearwater. A 19-year-old Clearwater man was driving south on Douglas Avenue when he lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle flipped several times, striking a telephone pole and a tree. A passenger in the vehicle, also a 19-year-old man from Clearwater, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Police believe excessive speed played a part in the crash.

The driver was treated at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg and then was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on charges of vehicular homicide with a bail set at twenty thousand dollars. Douglas Avenue was closed between Sunset Point Road and Overbrook Avenue while an investigation took place.

Also Tuesday, CW34 reported that a car crashed into a tree and exploded around 4:30 p.m., near mile marker 115 on Interstate 95. The man was rushed to a local trauma center, but no other information is yet available on his condition or the cause of the accident.