St. Pete Police Say Driver Fled On Foot From Accident Scene

ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg man scuttled off on foot after striking two cars with his pickup Wednesday evening, critically injuring one man, and later was seen running away from his ex-wife's house, police say.

  Daniel McNany

Daniel McNany, 48, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious injury.
Shortly after 5 p.m., McNany ran a stop sign at 55th Street North and 38th Avenue and lost control of his pickup as he tried to turn at the intersection, traffic homicide investigator Mike Jockers says in a written statement.
The 2005 Dodge pickup spun into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a van driven by David Taylor, 46, of St. Petersburg, Jockers said. Taylor was not injured.
The pickup continued along 38th Avenue North and struck a 1977 Cadillac nearly head-on, Jockers said. The driver of the Cadillac, Sarah Otero, 25, of St. Petersburg, suffered a broken arm, and her husband, Carlos, 24, had to be extricated from the Cadillac, Jockers said. Otero remained in critical condition today at Bayfront Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.
McNany got out of the pickup after it collided with the Cadillac, then stood back while witnesses and bystanders administered first aid, Jockers said. By the time police and paramedics arrived at the 5:05 p.m. wreck, he had disappeared, Jockers said.
He was seen running from his ex-wife's house at 10:55 p.m., said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. Too much time had elapsed for authorities to draw McNany's blood or conduct a drunken-driving investigation, but witnesses told investigators McNany had been drinking in a bar prior to the wreck, Proffitt said.
McNany was being held at Pinellas County Jail this morning. His bail was set at $10,000, according to jail records.
According to records from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, McNany has a history of traffic stops in which he refused to submit to alcohol tests.
On Nov. 4, 1986, he was charged with drunken driving in Dunedin and later convicted, said Ann Nucatola, a spokeswoman with the department. His license was revoked for 180 days and reinstated in March, 1987, the records show.
On Aug. 13, 1988, he was stopped in Volusia County but refused to submit to any blood alcohol tests, so his license was suspended for 18 months and then was reinstated in March 1991, the records show. Records show the incident was alcohol related, but there is no record of McNany having been convicted of anything in this incident.
In June 1999 he was stopped in Gulfport and refused to submit to a breath test, motor vehicle records show. Originally he was charged with drunken driving but the charge was reduced to reckless driving and he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to probation and community service, according to highway safety and motor vehicle records and Pinellas County records. His license was suspended again for 18 months and was reinstated three days after Christmas in 2000, motor vehicle records show.