PALM HARBOR — A speeding teenager on U.S. 19 refused to stop for deputies and took off, later rear-ending a car and injuring three adults early Sunday morning, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
A little after 1:30 a.m., Kingzig Montanez, 18 of Holiday, was speeding southbound on the highway in his mother’s Hyundai Elantra near Innisbrook Drive and passed a deputy, who then flashed his lights and attempted to pull him over, the agency reported.
But the driver kept going, and the deputy lost sight of the car.
Two-and-a-half miles south, Heath Ready, 28 of Clearwater, was stopped at a red light at the Tampa Road intersection, with Anabelle Gardner, 22, and Richard Serra III, 27 in the car.
About 1:41, Montanez’s Hyundai crashed into the back of Ready’s Fiat 500, leaving the three occupants with non-life-threatening injuries, deputies reported. Montanez was also injured.
Montanez got out of his car and ran away, caught by deputies nearby.
All four underwent treatment at Mease Countryside Hospital. Once cleared, authorities will take Montanez to the Pinellas County Jail. The 18-year-old faces charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest without violence, leaving the scene of a crash and driving without a license.