A crossing guard struck by a car in St. Petersburg was pronounced dead at a St. Petersburg trauma center.
The accident happened on 9th Ave. N. near 43rd St. Tuesday afternoon.
The crossing guard, 72-year-old David Roundtree, was rushed to Bayfront Health, the trauma hospital in St. Petersburg, as a trauma alert. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The incident occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when Roundtree was setting up his school zone on 9th Ave. N. in preparation for the 2:35 p.m. school dismissal at Mt. Vernon Elementary, the St. Petersburg Police Department said.
A silver Toyota Scion driven by 21-year-old Charles Hunter Walton traveling westbound on 9th Ave. North hit a pickup truck then hit the crossing guard. The Toyota also struck a school zone sign and a small tree and kept going for several blocks.
A witness saw the Toyota driving erratically for several blocks before the accident occurred, a St. Petersburg Police Department news release states.
Walton was charged with DUI manslaughter, the news release states. An unidentified 18-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the Toyota, was not charged.
Roundtree had been a crossing guard for 3 years.
Based on the skyview from Action Air 1, Walton was given a sobriety test on the scene.
No children were hurt during the accident.
