Florida Man Charged in Hit-and-Run Crash That Killed LITH Couple

Photo credit: Clearwater Police Department Facebook page

A Florida man has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a Lake in the Hills couple while they were on vacation last month.

Charles Winzenread, 45, was taken into custody last week at his place of employment, the Tampa Bay Times reports. He is accused of drinking wine at his home and at an area restaurant before the crash occurred just after 8 p.m. on Oct. 23.

He is charged with one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving a death, police said.

Viola G. Flores, 51, and John R. Berg, 62, both of Lake in the Hills, were killed in the crash. The accident took place in Clearwater, Flor., where the Lake in the Hills couple had been staying as part of a long-planned vacation, the Northwest Herald reports.

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Video surveillance from businesses near the crash scene helped police track down silver Mercedes-Benz G500 involved in the crash, according to the Tampa Bay Times reports. Police obtained a search warrant for Winzenread’s car, which had front-end damage, and seized the vehicle.

Berg’s only son, Matt Berg, a captain with the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, said his father, a retired mechanic and Algonquin native, had been vacationing in Clearwater Beach for years.

“He was in the place that he loved the most when the accident happened,” Matt Berg told the newspaper. “So I think we can find peace in that.”

Berg told the Tampa Bay Times his family is grateful police made an arrest in the case but also said he knows there is a long road ahead as the case winds its way through the court system.

“We’re going to have to deal with continuously and relive the deaths of two people,” he told the newspaper. “As much as I’m glad that there’s an arrest, this is just the beginning of the next chapter.”

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