Crime & Safety

Man Killed in Crash at McMullen Booth and Curlew Roads

A BMW ran a red light at the intersection, killing a 54-year-old Holiday man in a pickup truck, investigators said Wednesday morning.

Updated, 9:54 a.m.: The man killed in the crash has been identified as Robert Henry Raymer Jr., 54, of Holiday.

 

A Holiday man was killed early Wednesday morning at the intersection of McMullen Booth and Curlew roads in Palm Harbor when his pickup truck was hit by a car that ran a red light, investigators said.

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Robert Henry Raymer Jr., 54, was headed eastbound on Curlew shortly after 5:30 a.m. when a BMW failed to stop for the red light on McMullen Booth and hit the pickup truck's passenger side, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Raymer suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene, investigators said. He was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

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The driver of the BMW, 29-year-old Jonathan Peter Bytautas of Clearwater, was taken to St. Joseph Hospital with serious injuries.

The vehicles collided with a third vehicle, a pickup truck, during the crash. That driver, 60-year-old George Neil Paajanen of Palm Harbor, suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized.

This incident remains under investigation. No charges were immediately filed, and it's not yet known if alcohol was a factor in the crash.

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