St. Petersburg man arrested after crash injures two paramedics, police officer

PINELLAS PARK — Police arrested a man they say crashed into an accident scene along U.S. 19 on Monday night, injuring a police officer and two paramedics.

Kevin Lee Chaney, 21, of 4927 39th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury, driving with a suspended or revoked license, reckless driving, and driving under the influence.

Patrol Officer John Coleman was treated and released from Bayfront Medical Center, according to spokesman Capt. Sanfield Forseth, after being bumped by his cruiser after impact. He is recovering from shoulder and leg injuries at home.

Chaney had been traveling south on U.S. 19 in the right lane, but "darted" into the left lane when he encountered stopped traffic, according to a crash report. He lost control when he tried to veer back into the right lane, striking Coleman's cruiser, which was stopped in the right lane, blocking traffic away from a crash on the 10300 block of U.S. 19 N, the report said.

Coleman and two paramedics helping the crash victim were injured while jumping over a concrete barrier to safety. Chaney's car came to rest against a car involved in the original crash, the report said.

Chaney was unable to perform a roadside sobriety test and registered a 0.219 blood-alcohol reading, police said. Florida laws presume a driver to be impaired at 0.08.