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Madeira Beach Man Dies In 3-Vehicle Crash In Seminole

TBO.com

Published: November 7, 2008

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is investigating a three-car crash that killed one man in Seminole late Thursday night.

Witnesses told deputies they saw a white 1995 Chrysler minivan driving erratically westbound on Bay Pines Boulevard about 10 p.m.

As the minivan approached the intersection of 100th Way, the driver, 22-year-old Coty James Cotter of Madeira Beach, drove over the curb and onto the north shoulder of the roadway, deputies said.

Cotter overcorrected, causing the van to cross all three westbound lanes of Bay Pines Boulevard, deputies said, and he tried to avoid hitting the median and swerved back to the right, striking a gray 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 41-year-old Roberto Gonzalez. The impact forced the Jeep off the north side of the road, where it knocked down a light pole before spinning to a stop, deputies said.

The collision sent Cotter's minivan back across the median and into the eastbound lanes of Bay Pines Boulevard, where it collided head-on with a 2006 Dodge pickup driven by 39-year-old Amy McRanie of Redington Beach, according to the sheriff's office. Cotter, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was partially ejected from the crash and died, the sheriff's office said.

McRanie was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. Deputies said they expect her to survive. Her passengers, 15-year-old Cody McRanie and 14-year-old Brooke McDowell, were taken by ambulance to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where they were treated and released, according to the sheriff's office.

Gonzalez and his passenger in the Jeep, 49-year-old Oscar Parra, were not injured, deputies said.

Deputies are working with the Medical Examiner's office to determine whether alcohol was a factor in the crash. Bay Pines Boulevard was closed in both directions for more than five hours as deputies investigated the crash.

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