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Fatal Crash Snarls Traffic On Westbound Frankland Bridge

Eagle 8 image by JAY NOLAN

A motorcycle crashed into a truck's trailer about 4 p.m., authorities say.

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TBO.com

Published: December 29, 2008

Updated: 12/30/2008 12:41 am

TAMPA - Two westbound lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge were shut down for more than four hours Monday after a fatal motorcycle crash snarled traffic during rush hour.

The crash happened about 4 p.m. when Jason A. Kent, 28, of St. Petersburg, was riding his 2000 Victory motorcycle north of the Pinellas County line, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Kent changed lanes just north of the bridge's hump, but the front of his motorcycle struck the rear of a flat-bed trailer that was being hauled by a sport utility vehicle or a pickup truck, highway patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins said.

The impact threw Kent off the motorcycle and a 2002 Winnebago motor home ran him over, the highway patrol said. The driver of the recreational vehicle, Luann Borrison, 54, of Iowa, was not hurt.
Kent died at the scene.

Troopers are looking for the vehicle hauling the utility trailer, which did not stop after the motorcycle hit it, Gaskins said.

"They may not even know they got struck," he said.

Witnesses told troopers that the vehicle was either a white Ford F-150 pickup truck or a Dodge SUV.

The bottleneck of the "massive traffic jam" started near Westshore Plaza, where West Kennedy Boulevard merges with southbound Interstate 275, said St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Lt. Joel Granata.

The crash is under investigation. Anyone with information on the crash can call the Florida Highway Patrol at (813) 631-4020.

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