CLEARWATER - A 21-year-old Air Force airman has been charged with driving under the influence stemming from a wreck that left two dead and two injured.
David Arthur Sherman, of St. Petersburg, was speeding north on U.S. 19 at about 9 p.m. Saturday, making multiple lane changes, Clearwater police said.
Sherman tried to change lanes, almost striking another car. He then overcorrected and went into a counterclockwise spin, said police spokesman Wayne Shelor.
His 2003 Ford Taurus crossed the median into the southbound lanes and hit a Jeep Liberty and a GMC Envoy. He and his passenger, Benjamin Smith, 20, were ejected. Both were treated at the scene and flown to St. Joseph's Hospital, along with the driver and a passenger from the Envoy. Police did not have those names.
A third passenger in the Envoy, Miriam Harrell, 76, died at the scene. Smith died Sunday at about 10:30 a.m.
The driver of the Jeep Liberty was not injured.
Sherman was released from the hospital with minor injuries. He was then charged with DUI manslaughter, DUI with serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage. He was held in the Pinellas County jail without bail.
According to arrest reports, his blood alcohol level was 0.15 percent. The law presumes a driver is impaired at 0.08 percent. He told officers he drank four beers and two shots of rum that night.
Clearwater police closed all lanes on U.S. 19 north and south between Tropic Hills and Harn Boulevard for five hours during the investigation and cleanup.
