TAMPA, Fla. — A Sarasota woman accused of crashing into a Florida Highway Patrol trooper's SUV while driving drunk toward the Skyway 10K race in March appeared by video chat for a court hearing Tuesday.
Kristen Watts, 52, is charged with DUI causing serious bodily injury, DUI with damage to property or person and reckless driving with damage to property or a person. She appeared in a wheelchair for her first court appearance in front of a judge on March 7.
Court records show Watts waived a formal arraignment and entered a not guilty plea to all charges that stemmed from the crash.
A judge on Tuesday ordered a doctor to complete a competency evaluation to determine whether Watts is competent to stand trial, scheduling a new hearing for June 1.
Authorities accuse Watts of driving through traffic cones and around barricades that were set up to keep drivers off northbound Interstate 275 during the fifth annual Skyway 10K event on March 6. Around 8:45 a.m., She made her way through the closed toll plaza on the Manatee County side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, according to the Florida Highway Patrol in an earlier report.
Seeing the approaching car, FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins radioed two troopers and others to have them intercept it and protect the thousands of runners on the bridge. Two of the troopers stopped in the roadway, using their cruisers as physical barriers to keep Watts from potentially plowing into participants, FHP said.
Investigators say Watts' 2011 BMW 335i ultimately crashed almost head-on with the SUV driven by Trooper Toni Schuck.
An arrest report revealed that Watts had a medical blood alcohol level of .271 — more than three times the legal drinking limit.