Accused DUI Driver In Skyway Bridge 10K Crash Ruled Incompetent: Court

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — A 52-year-old Sarasota woman accused of driving drunk and crashing into a Florida state trooperduring a 10K race on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in March has been ruled incompetent to stand trial, Manatee County court records show.

Although the full document isn’t available through the court record system yet, the online description of the order from Judge Lon S. Arend shows that he found Kristen Kay Watts incompetent and the case is being handed over to the Department of Children and Families.

She faces numerous charges after driving into Trooper Toni Schuck’s vehicle — the final roadblock between Watts and thousands of runners on the bridge — on March 6.

Her charges included DUI causing serious bodily injury, driving under the influence, DUI causing property damage, reckless driving causing property damage or personal injury, and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer.

Watts had a blood alcohol level of .271 at the time of her arrest, which is more than three times the legal limit, according to the Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.

Around 8:45 a.m. the morning of the Skyway 10K Bridge Run, held annually to raise funds for the Armed Forces Families Foundation, Watts was speeding in her BMW as she headed north on I-275, FHP said in a news release.

When she reached the road closures for the race, she ignored them, failing to stop or detour onto U.S. 41 as directed, FHP said. Instead, she drove through traffic cones and around other barricades. State officers tried to pull her over for a traffic stop, but she continued onto S.R. 93 and drove through the toll plaza, refusing to stop for two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers guarding the area, troopers said.

After this, two state troopers responded southbound in the northbound lanes of S.R. 93 from the south rest area, stopping in the travel lanes to intercept Watts and to "protect the thousands afoot on the Skyway bridge," FHP said.

Watts crashed "nearly head-on" with one of the troopers, later identified as Schuck, who was driving a Chevy Tahoe. Both were seriously injured in the collision and treated at a nearby hospital, FHP said.