A Tampa DUI arrest has been made in the case of two pedestrians that were allegedly killed by a drunk driver. Three employees at Tampa’s Waterside Hotel were walking to a parking garage after their shift ended after 1:30 a.m. when a 2011 black Cadillac jumped a curb on a Harbour Island bridge and struck two of the three killing two and sending the third jumping into a bush to avoid being struck by the speeding car.
One of the victims of the crash was a 24-year-old woman close to a month away from graduating from USF. The other victim was a 23-year-old man who was a graduate of the University of Tampa. The third member of the group leaving work is a 47-year-old father of two. He escaped tragedy by jumping into a bush in time to avoid the out of control car.
The man who has been charged with DUI in the fatalities is a 34-year-old dentist from Riverview. The man was pulled from the Cadillac following the crash along with his wife and a female passenger. He refused to take a breath test but was subject to a forced blood draw due to the accident and the suspicion that he was driving under the influence. The dentist has been charged with numerous counts including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and battery on a law enforcement officer after an altercation with police on the scene. Bail was set at $119,000 and the south Hillsborough County dentist posted bond. No one in the Cadillac was injured in the accident.
According to an article on TBO.com the driver of the Cadillac has been cited in the past for driving well over the speed limit. In August he was cited for driving 90 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. In 2009 he was ticketed for speeding once again, this time he was driving 17 miles over the posted speed limit. He was ordered to attend advanced driver improvement school and had adjudication withheld in both instances.
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