Carrollwood Man Charged in Clearwater Hit-And-Run

The Clearwater Police Department has announced an arrest in the Oct. 18 hit-and-run crash that left two tourists dead.

Charles Winzenread of the Carrollwood area was brought into custody Tuesday afternoon, police reported in an email to media. He is being questioned at police headquarters before being transported to the Pinellas County Jail. Police intend to charge Winzenread with leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

The charges stem from a crash on Memorial Causeway that left pedestrians Viola Flores, 51, and John Berg, 62, dead.

The fatal crash sparked a widely publicized hunt for the motorist behind the wheel of Mercedes SUV believed to be involved in the crash. The suspect vehicle was ultimately traced to a Carrollwood address.

Police now say Winzenread was the driver of the 2002 silver Mercedes involved in the crash. The damaged SUV was seized from Winzenread’s Carrollwood area home Oct. 21, but no charges were filed at the time.

Flores and Berg were in Clearwater visiting from a suburb of Chicago when they were struck and killed.

Photo courtesy of the Clearwater Police Department