ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Leesburg family died Friday night after a drunken driver struck their pickup truck, causing it to flip off a bridge into Tampa Bay, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins said Joshua Burbank, 25, of Tampa, was drunk when he crashed his Honda Civic into the back of a GMC Sierra shortly before 9:45 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge, which connects Interstate 275 from Tampa to St. Petersburg.
Gaskins said the collision caused the pickup truck to spin several times before it flipped over a concrete barrier and into a shallow portion of the bay.
A 76-year-old Leesburg man and his 73-year-old wife died in the crash. The couple’s 52-year-old son was hospitalized with critical injuries, but he later died as well.
The family members weren’t immediately identified.
The truck was pulled from the water early Saturday.
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Burbank, who had only minor injuries, was arrested and charged with three counts of DUI manslaughter and one count each of DUI property damage and careless driving.
He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, but he has since been freed on a combined $51,000 bail.
Cox Media Group
