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Stolen Truck Hits House, Clearwater Police Say

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 3, 2008

CLEARWATER - A 20-year-old man driving a stolen pickup tried to pass a car at 11 p.m. Wednesday and crashed into a house, police said.

Shaun M. Smith, no address available, was in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center, said Elizabeth Daly-Watts, Clearwater's public safety spokeswoman. His blood-alcohol level was 0.147 percent, or nearly twice the level at which a driver in Florida is presumed impaired.

A passenger in the pickup, Marc E. Taylor, 37, no address available, suffered minor injuries and was arrested on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, Daly-Watts said.

Smith was at the wheel of a stolen 1998 Dodge Dakota, driving north on Highland Avenue at excessive speeds, when he tried to pass a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier being driven by Luis Castillo, 48, Daly-Watts said.

The pickup struck the Cavalier and careered into a house at 512 N. Highland Ave. and then into a car parked in the driveway there, Daly-Watts said. The owners of the house, Cherie Girard and Arthur Manderville, were not injured, nor was Castillo, the spokeswoman said.

Several hours after the crash, the owner of the Dodge Dakota reported the pickup stolen.

An investigation was under way.

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