A speeding drunk driver struck two people who were crossing 2nd Street N in downtown St. Petersburg early Saturday, killing one of them and critically injuring the other, police said.

Just after 2 a.m., Jason Lanard Mitchell, 25, of St. Petersburg was speeding on 2nd Street N in a rented Dodge Charger. The car blew through a red light at Central Avenue and hit Aaron Jerome Davis, 31, of Largo and Brian Lee LaFrance, 28, of St. Petersburg, throwing Davis to the other side of the street, police said.

Davis died at the scene. LaFrance, who was sideswiped and spun onto the pavement, was taken to a Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with life-threatening injuries. He has since been stabilized, according to police.



Mitchell and a passenger, Rayvorris Altuan Oliver, 27, fled the scene and were arrested at the nearby Push Ultra Lounge a short time later. Mitchell has been charged with DUI manslaughter, aggravated fleeing and eluding, leaving the scene of a crash involving death and DUI with serious bodily injury.

While in custody in the breath testing center at police headquarters, Mitchell attempted to escape but was quickly apprehended, police said.

Davis was a chef at The Kitchen, a restaurant just west of 2nd Street on 1st Avenue N. His wife was nine months pregnant with the family's second child, the family said.

According to police, the Dodge was first seen speeding on 4th Avenue N after exiting I-175. DUI patrol officers spotted the car and attempted to stop it as it slowed to turn south on to 2nd Street, but the car accelerated "at a very high rate," indicating it was not going to stop. The officers immediately shut their emergency equipment off, police said.



The Dodge kept speeding southbound and ran a red light at 3rd Avenue N and then at Central, where Davis and LaFance were crossing Central Avenue with a green light and a crossing signal, police said.



After striking the pedestrians, the Dodge drove off the southwest corner of the intersection and hit two concrete light pillars, ripping off he car's right front wheel. The car continued scraping along until coming to rest just before 1st Avenue S, police said.