LARGO, Fla. — A driver has been arrested in connection to an ambulance crash that left a man with life-threatening injuries and seriously hurt two others earlier this month in Largo.
Pinellas County deputies arrested 41-year-old Willie Daniels on Tuesday for the May 18 crash on East Bay Drive and North Missouri Avenue.
That day, deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop around 2:44 a.m. on Daniels' 2014 BMW X1. But after he initially stopped, deputies say Daniels did a quick U-turn and sped off down Seminole Boulevard.
As Daniels was fleeing the traffic stop, he entered the intersection of East Bay Drive and North Missouri Avenue and crashed into an ambulance driven by 25-year-old Derrick Gil, according to the sheriff's office. In the back of the ambulance was a 70-year-old patient being treated by 28-year-old medic Ashley Markel.
Investigators say the ambulance was traveling at about 35 miles per hour and had the green light.
The crash caused the ambulance to flip onto its side, leaving Gil with life-threatening injuries and seriously hurting Markel and the patient.
Daniels has now been charged with three counts of DUI with serious bodily injury, three counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury and three counts of fleeing and eluding with serious bodily injury.
He remains in the Pinellas County Jail.
