Watch: Suspected drunk driver hits trooper’s vehicle before reaching participants in 10K race

PALMETTO, Fla. (WWSB/Gray News) - A Florida woman is facing a felony charge after troopers said she drove intoxicated into a roadblock that prevented her from hitting participants in a 10K race.

WWSB reports Kristen Kay Watts, 52, of Sarasota, was charged with DUI with serious injury after the Florida Highway Patrol said she ignored a series of roadblocks in place for the race, which goes across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, connecting St. Petersburg with Palmetto in Manatee County.

The crash report claims Watts ignored a detour and weaved through a series of traffic cones and other barriers.

Troopers tried to stop Watts as she kept driving toward the bridge where thousands of people were running. The report states she then drove past several Florida Fish and Wildlife officers who were guarding the closed toll plaza on the Manatee County end of the bridge.

Two troopers would park their vehicles in the northbound lanes to prevent Watts from driving toward the runners, and the FHP said she crashed her BMW into one of the patrol vehicles nearly head-on.

Both Watts and the trooper in the patrol vehicle, Toni Schuck, were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries as a result of the crash.

Watts was later released from the hospital and booked into the Manatee County Jail.

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