At approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a vehicle crash at Rigsby Lane and State Road 580. The initial report was that a vehicle left the roadway and entered into a retention pond on the north side of the road. It was reported that an occupant exited the vehicle and was walking around nearby.
Several fire rescue units were dispatched to the scene as well as officers from Clearwater Police Department. Initially, deputies arrived on-scene and located the driver, identified as 20 year-old Euegene Cowlew of Safety Harbor.
There were no reports of any other occupants in the vehicle at the time of the crash but firefighters were unable to immediately confirm. A dive team arrived on scene to assist in confirm that the vehicle was unoccupied.
The vehicle was removed from the pond at approximately 1:15 a.m. and a confirmation was made that the vehicle was unoccupied.
According to arrest documentation, Corlew was noted to have bloodshot watery glassy eyes, slowed slurred speech, swaying back and forth, foaming at the mouth, and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. His breath alcohol concentration was recorded as .168 and .182, twice the legal limit in Florida of .08.
He was arrested by a Clearwater Police Department officer and booked into the Pinellas County Jail facing charges of driving under the influence.
This is the same location were another driver crash into the pond back in February 2021. That man died in the incident. That story can be found at the following link. https://iontb.com/car-crashes-into-pond-off-state-road-580/