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Letter to the editor

Crash injures two, spills shrimp load

The investigation and cleanup close a Dunedin boulevard for four hours.

By CASEY CORA and DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 4, 2007

DUNEDIN - Two men were injured, one critically, and thousands of shrimp were spilled onto Bayshore Boulevard in a head-on collision early Monday morning.

The crash took place about 3:30 a.m. near Curlew Road, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

A 2003 Toyota Corolla driven by 29-year-old Scott Gregory Scoville of Palm Harbor was going north in the southbound lane of Bayshore Boulevard, officials said.

The Toyota crossed over the western curb of the road and struck a concrete railing for the Curlew Creek bridge, then traveled more than 300 feet before crashing head-on into a shrimp delivery truck driven by 64-year-old Robert Wayne Miller of New Port Richey.

Miller tried to swerve off the road and avoid the collision. The impact caused thousands of shrimp to spill from a large tank mounted on the back of his truck.

Both drivers suffered serious but nonthreatening head injuries, and Scoville was pinned in the wreckage and had to be extricated by fire rescue personnel.

Because of early-morning fog, no helicopter could land near the crash scene, so both men were taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

Late Monday afternoon, Miller was in critical condition at the hospital, and Scoville was in fair condition.

Bayshore Boulevard was closed for about four hours while officials investigated the crash, cleaned up the spilled shrimp and checked out the bridge for structural damage.

[Last modified December 3, 2007, 21:06:57]