Pinellas Deputy Injured In Rollover Crash Near Fort DeSoto Park

TIERRA VERDE, FL -- The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is investigating an accident on the Pinellas Bayway South that injured a deputy.

At 6:48 p.m. Saturday, March 30, Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputy Luis Guiral, 23, was driving his marked Chevrolet Tahoe cruiser north on Pinellas Bayway South with his emergency lights on in response to a stolen vehicle in progress.

As Guiral approached the entrance to the Fort DeSoto Park boat ramp, traffic stopped in front of him in the northbound lanes. Guiral proceeded north in the southbound lane of Pinellas Bayway South to pass the traffic stopped in front of him.

Investigators say 26-year-old Mariela Martin was of Tampa driving a 2015 Lexus RX350 north on Pinellas Bayway South when she began making a left turn into the boat ramp parking lot. Martin's Lexus struck the passenger side of Guiral's Tahoe as he was attempting to overtake her vehicle.

The impact caused Guiral to lose control of the Tahoe and his cruiser overturned. Guiral's Tahoe came to rest on its passenger side in the southbound lane of Pinellas Bayway South.

Witnesses helped to extricate Guiral from his cruiser. Paramedics transported him to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with non-life-threatening injuries.

Martin and her passengers were uninjured.

Investigators say Guiral did not have his emergency siren on at the time of the crash. Neither speed nor impairment appear to be factors in the crash.