Release posted on 10-21-21 at 3:40 p.m.

Today, October 21st, 2021, shortly after 9 a.m., a 2003 Ford F350 truck, driven by Jesus Refugio Cortes (DOB 04/02/1978 Thonotosassa), was northbound on the North/South Pinellas Bayway (County Road 679). The truck had a work/ladder rack on top with several pieces of wood.

For an unknown reason, the Ford left the east side of the Pinellas Bayway, striking a small utility box and signpost before crossing an empty ditch and striking a palm tree in the 6300 block of the Pinellas Bayway.(photo attached)

Several pieces of wood on the truck broke free upon impact and struck the driver of an excavator who was working nearby with a work crew. The wood struck the excavator driver, Howard Hugh Powell (05/30/1975, Miramar, FL), in the chest and abdomen.

Powell was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in critical condition. Cortes was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with minor injuries.

Neither alcohol nor drugs played a part in this crash. This crash is still under investigation.