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In St. Pete, Ex-Wife Charged With Obstruction In Hit-Run Case

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The ex-wife of a motorist involved in a series of wrecks that left a man critically injured Wednesday is accused of hiding her ex-husband while authorities were looking for him, St. Petersburg police say.

Cynthia Ann Manooch, 43, was arrested Thursday and charged with obstruction and being an accessory after the fact in a hit-and-run involving serious bodily injury, Pinellas County Jail records state.

Manooch was arrested at her home, 3130 57th St. N., said St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman George Kajtsa.

Her ex-husband, Daniel McNany, hid at the home Wednesday evening after he struck two vehicles with his pickup and then fled on foot, police say.

Manooch was released from Pinellas County Jail after posting $5,250 bail, computerized jail records state.

One of the passengers in one of the vehicles struck – Carlos Otero, 24, of St. Petersburg – was in critical condition today at Bayfront Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

McNany, 48, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious injury. He was spotted running from his ex-wife's house more than five hours after the wreck and arrested.

He was released Thursday night from the Pinellas County Jail after posting $10,000 bail, computerized jail records state.

Shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, McNany ran a stop sign at 55th Street North and 38th Avenue and lost control of his pickup as he tried to turn at the intersection, traffic homicide investigator Mike Jockers says in a written statement.

The 2005 Dodge pickup spun into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a van driven by David Taylor, 46, of St. Petersburg, Jockers says. Taylor was not injured.

The pickup continued along 38th Avenue North and struck a 1977 Cadillac nearly head-on, Jockers said. The driver of the Cadillac, Sarah Otero, 25, of St. Petersburg, suffered a broken arm, and her husband, Carlos, had to be extricated from the Cadillac, Jockers said.

McNany got out of the pickup after it collided with the Cadillac, then stood back while witnesses and bystanders administered first aid, Jockers said. By the time police and paramedics arrived at the site of the 5:05 p.m. wreck, he had disappeared, Jockers said.

He was seen running from his ex-wife's house at 10:55 p.m., said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. Too much time had elapsed for authorities to draw McNany's blood or conduct a drunken-driving investigation. Witnesses told investigators that McNany had been drinking in a bar before the wreck, Proffitt said.

According to records from the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, McNany has a history of drunken driving and refusing to submit to alcohol tests.

On Nov. 4, 1986, he was charged with drunken driving in Dunedin and later convicted, said Ann Nucatola, a spokeswoman with the department. His license was revoked for 180 days and reinstated in March 1987, the records show.

On Aug. 13, 1988, he was stopped in Volusia County but refused to submit to blood alcohol tests, so his license was suspended for 18 months. It was reinstated in March 1991. Records also show the incident was alcohol related, but there is no record of McNany having been convicted of anything in this incident.

In June 1999 he was stopped in Gulfport and refused to submit to a breath test, motor vehicle records show. He initially was charged with drunken driving, but the charge was reduced to reckless driving. He pleaded no-contest and was sentenced to probation and community service, according to Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles and Pinellas County records.

His license was suspended again for 18 months. It was reinstated three days after Christmas 2000, motor vehicle records show.

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

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