LARGO – A Pinellas County school crossing guard was injured when he was hit by a car about 7:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at the intersection of 102nd Avenue and 131st Street in unincorporated Largo.
Witnesses at the scene and deputies from the Sheriff’s major accident investigation team said that the crossing guard, Nelson Guenther, was crossing at 102nd Avenue southbound at 131st Street with the crossing signal. As Guenther crossed, Richard Barbieri, 18, of Largo attempted to turn west on 102nd Avenue from northbound 131st Street.
Barbieri failed to yield at the pedestrian crossing, and the driver’s side mirror of his 2011 Chevy Malibu struck Guenther in the left forearm. Guenther suffered minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Barbieri was issued a traffic citation for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Deputies say now that school is back in session from the Holiday break, motorists should be very careful around school crossings as traffic has increased, and more pedestrians, mostly children, are out earlier in the day.
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