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Plant City Police Not Charging Driver In Dragging Death

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 19, 2008

PLANT CITY - The driver of a pickup who sped away after his truck rolled over and dragged a man and a teen, killing the man, will not be charged with a crime, police said Wednesday.

Martin Granado, 18, met with Plant City police on Tuesday night, a few hours after he left the accident scene, police spokesman Jim Shultz said. Granado told investigators he was speaking with the man and teen on Drake Street, near the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds, when a Ford minivan pulled alongside the truck. A teen in the van's passenger seat climbed into the vehicle's window opening and threatened Granado with a gun, police reported.

As Granado quickly accelerated away, his Ford F-150 pickup struck his acquaintances, who were ducking away from the gunman, police said. Jose Manuel Gonzalez, 20, died at the scene; Sergio Calderon, 17, was treated for cuts and abrasions.

The minivan's passenger, Luis Coronado, 17, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder. He was taken to Hillsborough County's Juvenile Assessment Center.

The state attorney had not decided whether to seek to prosecute Coronado as an adult.

"The action of pointing the gun is a felony in itself," Shultz said.

"Granado could not see the other victims when they dove to the ground," the police spokesman said. "His involvement appears to be unintentional."

Granado stopped his pickup a short distance from where he struck the man and teen, Shultz said. He stepped out of the truck and began to return to where Gonzalez lay in the road, witnesses reported.

However, fearing another confrontation with the people in the minivan, Granado told police, he got back in the pickup and left.

Police arrested Coronado at his home on South Forbes Road at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Shultz said.

Authorities were looking for the driver of the minivan in which Coronado was riding when the confrontation took place, Shultz said.

Sgt. Dave Millich, a street-crimes specialist with Plant City police, said everyone involved in Tuesday's fatal confrontation is affiliated with gangs in the Dover-Plant City area.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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