Posted on 12/21/2004 10:57:36 AM PST by presidio9
One person is dead after an SUV fleeing from state troopers headed the wrong way across the Howard Frankland Bridge and crashed into oncoming traffic early this morning.
Investigators say that a Honda CRV was involved in a minor fender-bender in the Kennedy-Westshore area around 1:40 a.m., but when troopers arrived on the scene, the vehicle took off, striking a trooper in the process.
"The gentleman in the vehicle refused all FHP trooper commands to stop and step out of the vehicle, backed his car into two FHP patrol cars, and struck Trooper Maddox with the Florida Highway Patrol's Tampa office," Trooper Larry Coggins stated.
The SUV drove southbound across the Howard Frankland in the northbound lanes with, according to one witness, its lights off. After crossing the bridge, it plowed head-on into a Ford pickup truck heading the other way with an impact so violent that both vehicles were barely recognizable afterwards.
The pickup rolled three times, ejecting the three people inside. Passengers Brittney Johnson and Lauren Lukes-Howard, both 17, were hospitalized in serious condition, along with the driver, 26-year-old Roderick Sears of Sarasota.
The driver of the SUV, which turned out to have been reported stolen from Largo the day before, was pronounced dead at the scene after his vehicle rolled twice. His identity had not been released by investigators by mid-morning.
ping
No. ;0)
LOL!
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