TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fatal Crash On I-275 Began With Police Chase

ADVERTISEMENT

TBO.com staff report

Published: September 26, 2007

Updated: 09/26/2007 05:33 pm

Police Chase Policies: Pinellas Sheriff's Office | Hillsborough Sheriff's Office | Tampa Police Department | Pasco Sheriff's Office | Clearwater Police Department (Word document)

ST. PETERSBURG - A 22-year-old man who was a passenger in his sister's Toyota Camry was killed today when a car fleeing from police in the wrong direction on Interstate 275 crashed into the Camry, St. Petersburg police said.

Authorities closed a stretch of I-275 South to investigate the 2:15 a.m. wreck. The lanes were reopened at about 8 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Steven Cornell

Steven Cornell, the passenger, died at Bayfront Medical Center after the crash; his sister, Mary Cornell, 17, who was driving the 1988 maroon Camry, was in serious condition, according to a written statement from Traffic Homicide Investigator Mike Robertson.

According to Robertson's report, the car that smashed into the Camry was a 1996 green Ford Escort driven by Charles Hicks, 32, of St. Petersburg, with Marcus Tolbert, 32, riding as a passenger. Earlier in the evening, the Escort had raced toward a St. Petersburg police officer twice in 30 minutes, and a chase commenced, Robertson said.

The first incident occurred at 2:06 a.m., St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said. The Escort had driven at a high rate of speed toward a police squad car at 18th Avenue South and 12th Street, Proffitt said. Officer Kevin Sullivan swerved out of the way to avoid the eastbound Escort, which then continued on 18th Avenue South before turning north on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Proffitt said.

Sullivan reported the incident over the radio, and a minute later he and Officer Brian Burton found the Escort stopped, with no lights on, in traffic on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street near 12th Avenue South, Proffitt said.

The two officers activated their emergency lights to pull the car over, but the Escort bolted, heading west on 12th Avenue South, Proffitt said. Sullivan and Burton followed the car to 10th Street, where it turned south, and the officers opted not to chase it any more, Proffitt said.

A short time later, Burton was driving his car north on 22nd Street South when the Ford emerged from a side street near 12th Avenue South, and then the Escort headed south toward Burton's car, Proffitt said. The Escort moved into the northbound lane and accelerated "on what appeared to be on course" to ram Burton's cruiser head-on, Proffitt said.

Burton swerved and braced himself for a collision, but the Escort swerved at the last moment and narrowly missed striking Burton's squad car, Proffitt said.

Burton made a U-turn and initiated a pursuit, Proffitt said. The Escort went south on 22nd Street South to 22nd Avenue, where it turned and started going west on 22nd Avenue, Proffitt said. Burton chased the Escort to the exit ramp off I-275, the spokesman said.

Charles Hicks

There, the Escort went up the exit ramp before it started barreling north on I-275 in the southbound lanes, Proffitt said. Burton immediately terminated the pursuit because continuing to chase the car would have been a violation of policy, which reads an officer cannot chase a suspect the wrong way on any road, Proffitt said.

Burton then made a U-turn and entered I-275 on the northbound lanes in order to see whether he could keep track of the Escort, Proffitt said. Burton and the other officers then came up on the crash, near the 31st Street overpass, Proffitt said.

Hicks and Tolbert are also at Bayfront Medical Center; their conditions are unknown.

Hicks faces a minimum of two counts of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle for his actions against officers Sullivan and Burton, Proffitt said.

The investigation is continuing.

On Sept. 23, the same Escort was involved in a similar incident in which its driver barreled toward a different officer's squad car before the officer swerved to get out of the car's way, Proffitt said. That officer, Richard Platt, initiated a pursuit, but a supervisor called it off when it started driving against on-coming traffic on 34th Street, Proffitt said.

SOME WRONG-WAY ACCIDENTS:

June 2007: Eric Kindt, driving the wrong way on I-4 east, strikes a dump truck causing both vehicles to swipe a third car. Kindt is pronounced dead at the scene. The drivers of the dump truck and the third car are treated and released.

Feb. 2005: 25 yr. old Joel Melody drives vehicle the wrong way on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge striking a car head-on, killing himself and the other driver. Moments before the wreck, Melody had gotten onto Interstate 275, which leads to the Skyway, by driving the Cherokee the wrong way up an exit ramp.

Nov. 2002: Julie Buckner is killed when her car is struck on Interstate 275 by John Robert Templeton Jr. Templeton got onto I-275 on the southbound side, though he was driving north.

Sept. 2001: Karen Kizer, driving the wrong way on Memorial Highway near Eisenhower Boulevard strikes Wanda F. Parfitt head on. Kizer who was heading south in the northbound lanes is pronounced dead at the scene. Parfitt is treated for minor injuries.

July 2001: Michael Webb traveling north in the southbound lanes near Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard on U.S. 19 slammed into an off-duty Pinellas County sheriff deputy's car as well as three other cars. The deputy and three other people are treated for injuries and U.S. 19 is shut down for hours. Webb is booked on DUI charges.

Sept. 2000: Matthew D. Gladden traveling north in the southbound lanes of U.S. 19 just south of East Bay Drive strikes a southbound vehicle driven by former major-league baseball player Ron LeFlore. LeFlore, his wife, and three others are injured. Gladden is killed.

Source: Tribune archives

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT