Officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department are currently investigating a crash that left a man critically injured. The incident occurred on Thursday, October 21, 2021, shortly after 9 a.m..
Investigators say that a 2003 Ford F350 truck,
driven by 43 year-old Jesus Refugio Cortes of Thonotosassa was northbound on the North/South Pinellas Bayway. The truck had a work/ladder rack on top with several pieces of wood.
For an unknown reason, the Ford left the east side of the Pinellas Bayway, striking a small utility box and signpost before crossing an empty ditch and striking a palm tree in the 6300 block of the Pinellas Bayway
Several pieces of wood on the truck broke free upon impact and struck the driver of an excavator who was working nearby with a work crew. The wood struck the excavator driver, 46 year-old Howard Hugh Powell of Miramar, FL, in the chest and abdomen.
Powell was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in critical condition. Cortes was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with minor injuries.
Investigators say that neither alcohol nor drugs played a part in this crash.
This crash is still under investigation.