ST. PETERSBURG — The man who caused a horrific high-speed car crash, killing two people and strewing debris across Central Avenue and 34th Street S on Thanksgiving night, was drunk and had just been involved in another wreck up the street, police said.
Anthony Apollo Neeley, 31, of Seminole, is facing several charges including two counts of DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving attended property, violation of business purpose only driver's license, operating an unregistered vehicle and operating with no valid insurance. County arrest records show he has faced charges related to driving without a valid license before and was most recently arrested in February on a charge of grand theft, then released on bail.
The fatal collision Thursday happened about 5:30 p.m., according to St. Petersburg police.
Neeley was driving a 2003 Porsche SUV east on Central Avenue at a very high rate of speed when he hit a 2009 Toyota Corolla turning left onto 34th Street S, police said. The man driving the Corolla and a woman in the passenger seat were both killed instantly. They have not been identified.
The Porsche hit the front right side of the Toyota then rolled several times further down Central Avenue, authorities said. Neeley had shortly before been in another crash at Central Avenue and 58th Street, according to police. Investigators said he fled that scene, and two officers who witnessed him driving off estimated that Neeley was traveling more than 100 miles per hour. No one was reported injured in that crash.
Police said officers were not pursuing Neeley before either of the crashes. Neeley suffered minor injuries and was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, authorities said.
Bits of glass and fractured metal were strewn around the mangled sedan and smashed SUV late Thursday. Traffic homicide investigators worked late into the night.
Onlookers who huddled under street lamps on a cold holiday evening saw a body at the edge of the crosswalk, tucked under a yellow sheet near the Corolla. Another shrouded body hung half-out of the passenger side of the sedan. Nearby, a PSTA bus was parked and shut off next to the crime scene tape. A light pole fell in the wreck, and part of it ended up on top of the SUV.
"I just never saw something like this," said Natalie Elliott, 25, of St. Petersburg. "I'm shocked."
Contact Zachary T. Sampson at zsampson@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8804. Follow @ZackSampson.