A 39-year-old Kenneth City man was drunk when the car he was driving Aug. 23 rear-ended a pickup truck, killing its driver, according to court records.
William Storey was booked Tuesday into the Pinellas County Jail on a charge of driving under the influence-manslaughter.
Storey was driving his 2004 Mercedes-Benz on Interstate 275, just west of the Howard Frankland Bridge, about 3:20 a.m. when the car struck the back of a 1987 Nissan pickup, according to court records. Storey was exceeding 70 mph, records state.
Driving the pickup was Daniel Harrell, 22, of Land O' Lakes. After the impact, the pickup truck turned over, and Harrell was thrown from it. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. Harrell was driving 55 to 65 mph, court records state.
The pickup truck was occupied by two other people - a man and a woman in their 20s, both from Land O' Lakes - who survived their injuries. Both were wearing seat belts, as was Storey.
Storey was overheard after the crash telling someone during a cell phone call, "I think I killed someone," court records state.
At the time, Storey's eyes were bloodshot, his breath smelled of alcohol and he was experiencing mood swings, records state. At first, Storey refused to submit to a blood draw, the records state, but he agreed to once he was told it could be forced because of the signs of his impairment and because someone died.
His blood-alcohol percentage registered 0.171 and 0.165, records state. A driver is considered drunk in Florida with a blood-alcohol percentage of 0.08 or more.
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