Driver ignored Skyway 10K interstate closure, FHP says. Then there was a chase and a crash

A driver has been arrested and charged with DUI after she ignored a closure on Interstate 275, failed to stop for law enforcement and then crashed into a Florida Highway Patrol vehicle, seriously injuring a trooper, the agency said in a news release Sunday.

The interstate closure was in place for the Skyway 10K, an annual pedestrian event on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that raises money for charity.

Troopers say that 52-year-old Kristen Kay Watts of Sarasota was driving a BMW 335i sedan north on I-275 at high speeds around 8:45 a.m. Sunday.

When she approached the interstate closure, Watts failed to follow a detour onto U.S. 41, the news release says. The driver instead went around cones and barricades in the presence of state law enforcement officers and continued traveling on the interstate. The officers attempted to pull Watts over, but she failed to stop and the pursuit continued.

Watts then approached the northbound Skyway toll plaza, where two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were posted. Watts also failed to stop for them and continued through the toll plaza, the news release says.

Two FHP vehicles that were stationed at the rest area south of the Skyway then entered the northbound lanes of I-275 to head off Watts before she could get to the the bridge, where thousands of pedestrians were gathered.

The FHP vehicles both stopped in the travel lanes, blocking the interstate. Troopers say that Watts’ car crashed nearly head-on into one of the FHP vehicles, a Chevy Tahoe SUV.

Watts and the trooper operating the SUV, a 47-year-old Tampa woman, were both seriously injured in the crash, the agency says. Both were transported to an area hospital.

Watts was later arrested by FHP for DUI causing serious bodily injury.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge and I-275 North were scheduled to be closed until 11 a.m. Sunday for the Skyway 10K. But the interstate remained closed for several additional hours because of the crash. Troopers began reopening the northbound lanes of I-275 around 2 p.m.

This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 1:31 PM.