A thirty-three-year-old Tampa driver is behind bars following a deadly chain of events on a local roadway Tuesday night. Benny Wallace was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet sedan traveling southbound on 56th Street North near Pitch Pine Circle around 7:40 p.m. when he lost control of his car.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Wallace drove his vehicle off the main road and onto the shoulder. The Chevy hit a drainage culvert at high speed, causing the car to become completely airborne as it launched over the embankment.
The flying car crashed directly into a woman who was waiting at a bus stop on the northwest corner of the intersection. The impact caused catastrophic injuries to the bystander, but the vehicle did not stop there.
After hitting the pedestrian, the Chevrolet slammed into a stopped Toyota sedan driven by a forty-two-year-old Tampa man. While the driver of the Toyota managed to escape physical harm, the crash caused heavy damage to both vehicles.
State troopers arrived at the East Lake-Orient Park crash site to conduct a field investigation. Officers quickly noticed clear signs that Wallace was impaired while operating the vehicle prior to the wreck.
Police took Wallace into custody right at the scene. He was formally charged with DUI manslaughter and also faces additional charges for refusing to submit to sobriety testing requested by law enforcement.
The female pedestrian was transported to a local hospital by emergency crews, where medical staff later pronounced her dead. Wallace remains in custody while state authorities complete their full investigation into the crash.
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