Driver in fiery Brandon crash arrested on DUI charges

TAMPA — A man who authorities say tried to run away from a fiery collision that badly injured a Valrico woman last month was re-arrested Monday after blood-alcohol tests showed he was drunk at the time, according to Hillsborough County deputies.

Donald A. Ward, 38, turned himself in about 11:30 a.m. at the Orient Road Jail, where he was booked on new charges of DUI with serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage. Toxicology tests showed that his blood-alcohol level was 0.105 percent about four hours after the July 27 collision that left Anne Marie Fanning, 22, in critical condition, sheriff's officials said. The state presumes impairment if a person has a level of 0.08 percent or higher.

Late that night, Fanning was heading east in a 2003 Mazda on the Brandon Parkway near the intersection of Providence Road, deputies said. Ward was heading south on Providence Road in a 2007 GMC Envoy.

Ward blew through a stop sign, crossed the westbound lanes, drove over a raised median and slammed into Fanning's car, deputies said.

As the car burst into flames with Fanning trapped inside, Ward ran, authorities said. But he was tracked to a nearby retention pond and arrested.

More than three weeks after the crash, Fanning remains hospitalized in fair condition at Tampa General Hospital.

Ward was already facing a charge of leaving the scene of the crash. After his arrest Monday, he was released on $6,000 bail.