By: Emily Wunderlich
Source: Tampa Bay Times (TNS)
A Palm Harbor man is facing several charges after troopers say he struck two Pinellas County workers who were doing repairs on a flooded road Friday morning.
Charles Edward Kunath, 68, was driving an SUV south on Lake St. George Drive about 9:40 a.m. when he approached the workers attending to a flooded roadway that had been partially washed out, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release. Construction barricades and vehicles “clearly indicated the roadway was closed,” the news release states.
When Kunath drove around the barricades, workers flagged him to stop, but he accelerated and struck two workers, identified as a 49-year-old Pinellas Park man and a 49-year-old Clearwater man. Both were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Kunath fled the scene and was later found at his home, where he was arrested by the Highway Patrol.
Troopers released a video that was captured by a construction vehicle at the scene. The video shows a white SUV accelerating past the barricades moments before the crash.
Kunath was booked at the Pinellas County Jail on charges including attempted vehicular homicide, aggravated battery involving a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of a crash with injury and reckless driving involving serious injury, according to the Highway Patrol.
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