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Second St. Petersburg pedestrian in Central Ave. crash dies

Darlene Surprenant, 61, died Sunday, nine days after the crash that also killed her husband, Bob. The driver of the pickup truck that struck them has not been charged with a crime.
 
A truck hit Bob and Darlene Surprenant, both 61, on April 9 as they crossed Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. Bob died the same night; Darlene died of her injuries Sunday, nine days after the crash.
A truck hit Bob and Darlene Surprenant, both 61, on April 9 as they crossed Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. Bob died the same night; Darlene died of her injuries Sunday, nine days after the crash. [ MARGO SNIPE | Times ]
Published April 19, 2021|Updated April 19, 2021

ST. PETERSBURG — A 61-year-old woman died of her injuries Sunday, St. Petersburg police said, nine days after a pickup truck driver hit her and her husband at a Central Avenue crosswalk.

Darlene Marie Surprenant, of St. Petersburg, had been in critical condition at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg after the April 9 crash, police said. She died there of her injuries. Her husband, Robert T. “Bob” Surprenant Jr., was also hit and died the night of the crash.

The couple was crossing the street at about 8 p.m. on the 2000 block of Central Avenue — part of a stretch of the street flanked by popular restaurants and breweries, with crosswalks on every block — when 50-year-old Michael William Parker, driving a Dodge Ram truck, struck them, police said.

Parker, who remained at the scene and cooperated with police, has not been charged with a crime.

The couple was married for 26 years, according to Bob Surprenant’s obituary.

The obituary described him as a Navy veteran with a divinity degree who worked for 22 years at Windmoor Healthcare, with a “devoted, loving and caring heart.” He was survived by his mother, two brothers, a sister, three daughters and 10 grandchildren. More information on Darlene Surprenant wasn’t immediately available.