Passenger, motorcycle rider killed in DUI crash on Bayside Bridge, troopers say

CLEARWATER — A 29-year-old St. Petersburg woman drove across the median on the Bayside Bridge and collided with two vehicles Sunday night, killing her passenger and a motorcycle rider, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The woman, Shanquia Zaneta Holte, was arrested on charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in connection with the collision at 11:10 p.m. Holte had a blood alcohol level of .191, more than twice the legal limit for drivers of .08, the Highway Patrol said.

Holte was driving south on the bridge in a 2019 Nissan Altima when she lost control, crossed the median and struck two northbound vehicles — a Nissan Rogue and a 2018 Qipai motorcycle, the Highway Patrol said. The Altima and the motorcycle came to rest in the tree line on the east side of the bridge. The Rogue spun across the median and came to rest in the southbound lanes.

A 29-year-old Largo woman who was a passenger in the Altima and a 50-year-old Palm Harbor man riding the motorcycle were killed. Holte was treated for minor injuries at Bayfront Medical Center and arrested seven hours after the crash. The 50-year-old Tampa woman driving the Rogue was not hurt.

Neither occupant of the Altima was wearing seatbelts. The Rogue driver was.

Holte told investigators she had been drinking Hennessy on the rocks at a lounge north of the bridge and was feeling “tipsy,” according to an arrest report.

The Highway Patrol did not release the names of the victims because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution that was meant to protect crime victims but that deprives the public of information long available under Florida’s public records law.