A St. Petersburg man was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and a Tampa man was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a fiery crash on U.S. 19 in unincorporated Clearwater on Saturday night.
Around 9:20 p.m., 36-year-old Robert A. Nelligan of Tampa was driving a 2013 Mercedes-Benz coupe north on U.S. 19 approaching Estancia Boulevard. In rainy and wet conditions, a 1994 Honda traveling south on U.S. made a U-turn on U.S. 19 and crossed into the path of the Mercedes, troopers said.
The Mercedes crashed into the Honda, sending it across the center median back into the southbound lanes of U.S. 19, where it burst into flames.
Witnesses say the driver of the Honda, 35-year-old Tempitope Babalola, 35, of St. Petersburg escaped the burning vehicle before firefighters put out the flames. Bababola was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with minor injuries, according to the FHP.
A passenger in the Mercedes, 36-year-old John King of Merritt Island, was not injured.
Nelligan suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. He was booked in the Pinellas County Jail, where he refused to provide a breath sample, troopers said.
The crash happened on a busy stretch of U.S. 19 about a mile north of Westfield Countryside mall. More than two dozen emergency vehicles responded to the scene.