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FHP: Man arrested after ramming into Pinellas workers at blocked off road

Officials said both workers were transported to local hospitals for serious life-threatening injuries.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Harbor man was arrested after officials said he rammed into two workers at a closed roadway, despite being flagged to stop.

It happened just after 9:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Florida Highway Patrol. That's when 68-year-old Charles Edward Kunath was traveling southbound on Lake St. George Drive.

Just north of Tampa Road, Pinellas County workers were "attending to a flooded roadway that had been partially washed out" when officials said Kunath drove around construction barricades and vehicles which indicated that the road was closed.

Workers signaled him to stop, but the agency said he continued to accelerate before colliding with two workers onsite — a 49-year-old Pinellas Park man and a 49-year-old Clearwater man.

Kunath fled the scene, but FHP troopers later arrested him at his home.

Both victims were transported to local hospitals for serious life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Kunath is now in Pinellas County Jail where he faces multiple charges,  including attempted vehicular homicide, aggravated battery involving a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of a crash with injury, reckless driving and several traffic violations.

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