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Car In Deadly Wreck Found

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By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol have located a car they think was involved in a fatal crash last week, according to a search warrant filed Monday.

Now comes the hard part: determining who was driving at the time of the wreck.

The crash happened Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-two-year-old Nick Burns Jr.'s motorcycle collided with a gray four-door Pontiac Grand Prix at U.S. 19 and Bougenville Drive.

Burns was driving north on U.S. 19 when the driver of the Grand Prix, who was headed west on Bougenville, ran a stop sign. The Grand Prix did not stop after the collision and turned south on U.S. 19.

Burns, a U.S. Marine Corps reservist from Beverly Hills, died Thursday in a St. Petersburg hospital.

The search for the car took a turn Saturday when investigators received a call from Scott Winfough, a tow truck driver with Tatum Towing Co. Winfough told authorities he recognized the car after he saw a news report about the accident.

He told authorities he had recently towed a gray Grand Prix with left-side damage from 9825 Hidden Lane, which is just west of U.S. 19 and south of the crash site, to a house at 9930 Woodridge Court in Port Richey.

Investigators went to the house and spoke to Gabrielle Coulter and Anthony Wayne Hubbard, who agreed to open the garage. Inside was the Grand Prix, which had been rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Coulter, Hubbard and Sherry Lee Bertram denied having rented the car or driven it.

Bertram, 29, rents the house on Woodridge, according to the search warrant.

Highway patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins said Tuesday that investigators have narrowed the list of suspects to one woman and one man. He said there have been conflicting witness statements about who was driving the Grand Prix.

Investigators were forced to seek a search warrant to seize the vehicle after Enterprise refused to cooperate with the investigation, Gaskins said. Enterprise also has refused to tell investigators who rented the car, according to the search warrant.

The Grand Prix was taken to a crime lab, where it was to be scoured for evidence that may reveal who was driving when Burns was hit.

Gaskins said whoever was driving could be charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, a second-degree felony punishable by 15 years in prison.

"The bad part is we didn't have the car for a couple days, so there could be issues of was it driven and who did what," he said. "It might be a little difficult for us."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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