SARASOTA — A lady who crashed right into a trooper head-on Sunday whereas driving drunk towards the Skyway 10K race recorded a blood-alcohol degree greater than thrice the authorized restrict for drivers, the Florida Freeway Patrol stated.
Kristen Kay Watts, 52, of Sarasota, drove previous a lot of street closure indicators round 9 a.m. Sunday whereas dashing from Manatee County towards the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, troopers stated. The bridge was closed to visitors on the time for the 8,000 runners collaborating within the annual 10-kilometer race.
To maintain Watts from reaching runners, Trooper Toni Schuck rammed her Chevrolet Tahoe head-on into Watts’ 2011 BMW 335i. The Freeway Patrol launched dramatic dashcam video from the Tahoe exhibiting the collision.
An arrest affidavit obtained by the Tampa Bay Instances on Wednesday describes what occurred after the crash.
Watts instantly received out of her automotive and discovered an injured proper ankle earlier than making an attempt to get again inside. Officers from the Freeway Patrol and the Florida Wildlife Fee detained her earlier than she might.
Watts tried to swing at a trooper accompanying her as she was taken by ambulance to Bayfront Hospital St. Petersburg, the affidavit stated. Watts was tied down and couldn’t make contact. Her breath smelled of alcohol, her speech was slurred and he or she had bloodshot, watery eyes.
Watts couldn’t say the place she was when she was questioned on the hospital. She started “yelling and verbally abusing the medical employees making an attempt to deal with her,” the affidavit stated.
Her blood-alcohol degree was recorded at .271 within the hospital, greater than thrice the authorized restrict for drivers of .08, the affidavit stated.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XIIHG54KYRBW7FNKBUQVKNKMJM.jpg "The driver of the BMW 335i sedan on the left, Kristen Kay Watts of Sarasota, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence resulting in serious injury on Sunday, March 6, 2022 after she drove onto a portion of Interstate 275 that had been closed for the Skyway 10K race and slammed head-on into a Florida Highway Patrol SUV, at right, resulting in serious injuries to both drivers, troopers said.")
Watts was handled for minor accidents and arrested on a cost of DUI involving severe damage. She was taken to the Manatee County Jail, the place her blood alcohol degree was recorded at .09 greater than six hours after the crash.
Watts remained in custody Wednesday on the Manatee County Jail in lieu of $52,000 bail.
A LinkedIn profile for Watts says she is an expert author and editor for rent. She attended Ohio State College and Florida State, the place she studied journalism and communication, the profile stated.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2RH6LFM2NFBC7B4ZQB4C7KRRCM.png "The LinkedIn profile for Kristen Kay Watts. It says she is searching for new opportunities as a writer or editor.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/Z6H7LODGL5HF3MUWO4M6KQJGGE.png "Read inspiring stories about ordinary lives")
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Watts has lived in Sarasota for a 12 months and was unemployed, in accordance with a pretrial launch type. She has lived in St. Petersburg in the course of the previous decade and turned 52 two days earlier than the crash.
Watts is represented by legal professional Kati Patricia Trese with the Public Defender’s Workplace in Manatee County. Trese didn’t instantly reply Wednesday to a request for remark made on two cellphone calls and an e-mail. Relations of Watts’ didn’t reply this week to requests for remark despatched by way of Fb.
Trooper Schuck was handled on the identical hospital as Watts for accidents together with a concussion and cuts to the top. The Freeway Patrol has not launched the total extent of Schuck’s accidents. In a Fb put up Monday, she expressed gratitude for her SUV cruiser.
“You served the state of FL residents effectively,” she wrote, alongside a photograph of the Tahoe. “I attribute my survival from yesterday to you, my angels and God above!”
Schuck declined a request from the Instances on Wednesday for an interview, deferring to a information convention she is scheduled to provide Thursday at a Freeway Patrol middle in Pasco County.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/PYGSVQN5BRHBNK53VHGDZ4XNNM.jpeg "Trooper Toni Schuck has worked for the Florida Highway Patrol for 26 years.")
Schuck has labored on the company for 26 years.
Reward for Schuck’s actions on social media has poured in from individuals far and large, together with lots of the runners in Sunday’s Skyway 10K.
“She’s a hero, easy as that,” 29-year-old Stephanie Schwent of Brandon advised the Instances. “That officer is the explanation individuals like me can run throughout a bridge for enjoyable, realizing we’ll be secure.”
Race organizers received’t focus on safety measures in place for Sunday’s occasion or whether or not any modifications are being thought-about, stated spokesman James Choose. In a press release to the Instances on Tuesday, Choose stated that the organizers are “extraordinarily grateful for the heroic actions she took to maintain Skyway 10K contributors secure.”
Schwent stated she noticed regulation enforcement automobiles dashing towards the Manatee finish of the Skyway on Sunday however didn’t assume a lot of it on the time. When she heard later what had occurred, she received chills considering again to the 2020 race when she witnessed 48-year-old competitor Justin Doyle collapse. Doyle died later that day.
“I’m so grateful we didn’t need to undergo one other tragedy this 12 months,” stated Schwent, who has run the race every year since its inception in 2018. “We actually owe that to the officer and her bravery.”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ES7CCZ7RRVDSZKV3RVE2QBO3ZY.jpeg "Stephanie Schwent, of Brandon, was one of thousands of runners at the Skyway 10K on Sunday.")