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Driver arrested after UHaul collides with hotel parking garage

Driver arrested after crashing into hotel garage
Posted at 3:59 AM, Oct 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-13 16:14:33-04

A UHaul driver was arrested after colliding with the ceiling of a hotel parking garage in St. Pete Beach.

The call came in at 12:50 a.m. Friday at 3701 Gulf Blvd. at the Hotel Zamora.

A valet on duty said a UHaul tried to pull into the garage and the top of the truck struck the ceiling pulling down a portion of tiles and metal.

The UHaul backed out and left the scene. The valet ran after the truck and called police, reporting the direction the UHaul was heading.

Pinellas Sheriff's Office reportedly stopped the vehicle on Gulf Winds Blvd. and 64th Ave. 

Deputies performed DUI testing on the man, identified as 32-year-old Edgar Hidalgo, and placed him under arrest shortly after for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, driving under the influence, and possession of a controlled substance (cocaine).

He said he had attended a party at the hotel, and afterwords was driving a passenger to her car in the parking garage.

To explain the UHaul, Hidalgo told deputies he was planning to move to Miami the same morning.

“I ran after him like in an action movie or something to try to get an eye of the plate,” the valet said.

He was not sure why the UHaul tried to enter the garage.