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Motorist Encountered SUV Minutes Before Fatal Wreck

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Five cars were involved in the Sept. 10 crash on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway about a half-mile east of the 78th Street toll plaza.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

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• Crash Scene Photos
• Surveillance Video
• Previous: Driver Arrested

  Cheryl Riemann

TAMPA - The woman slumped behind the wheel of the Honda Pilot looked like she shouldn't be driving, real-estate developer Ken Stoltenberg recalled thinking.

Wednesday, he wished he could have done more beyond calling 911.

Stoltenberg dialed the emergency number from his cell phone at 1:59 p.m. Sept. 10, about 12 minutes before authorities said the Honda slammed head-on into another vehicle on the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, killing Jennifer O'Boyle, 24, of Brandon.

O'Boyle's 4-year-old daughter, Summer Moll, was critically injured. The Honda's driver, Cheryl Riemann, 25, is charged with four felonies: vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, DUI resulting in serious bodily injury and reckless driving.

Stoltenberg said he was on the line with a police dispatcher for four minutes and 14 seconds as he trailed the Honda north on Bayshore Boulevard and into downtown.

"It's very disturbing and very sad," he said. "If I knew how everything was going to unfold, I might have been more aggressive, but I don't know. I could've made the situation a lot worse in a hurry. I could've honked at her, and she could've gone into oncoming traffic. What do you do?"

Tampa police and the Florida Highway Patrol said Stoltenberg did the best he could under such circumstances. Drivers who try to stop erratic motorists on their own open themselves to danger: from a motorist who might be violent, let alone impaired, and to the possible liability of hurting other drivers.

"I can identify with him completely," Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins said, noting his frustration at reckless drivers who refuse to stop after he flips on his emergency lights and siren. Agency policy dictates he break off a pursuit once other motorists are endangered, he said.

"The best thing people can do is stay a safe distance back and call us and stay on the phone with us. Keep giving us locations," Gaskins said.

Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Stoltenberg did an excellent job in relaying the situation and staying out of harm's way. Unfortunately, events unfolded so quickly, officers were unable to intercept the Honda, she said.

According to police and to Stoltenberg, he lost sight of the Honda briefly while downtown, then saw it entering the expressway. He wasn't sure of the direction, McElroy said.

"We had a 50-50 shot," McElroy said. An officer went west, she said. The Honda had gone east.

Police turned the 911 recording over to the highway patrol and Gaskins declined to release a copy of it Wednesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

Stoltenberg, 41, said he was returning to his Channelside Drive office from lunch that day when he saw the Honda roll through a red light at Bayshore and Bay to Bay boulevards. With no one visible behind the wheel, it rolled onto the grassy shoulder, then took off, he said.

He turned north on Bayshore and soon recognized the same Honda behind him. He merged into another lane to allow the driver to pass. "Her eyes were closed, and she slumped over the passenger seat," he said.

He dialed 911. "I think I said she was absolutely out of her gourd or whacked out on drugs," he said.

The dispatcher asked whether he could see the license tag, but Stoltenberg said he didn't feel safe driving closer. "She was all over the road. She hit the curb a couple of times. I thought she was going to flip the car over."

Stoltenberg said he tailed the car all the way downtown to the Tampa Convention Center, where the Honda ran a red light. He caught up to it at another light at Morgan Street, then lost sight of it on Jefferson Street.

McElroy said the dispatcher issued a "be on the lookout" alert for the Honda within 50 seconds of answering Stoltenberg's call. About 40 seconds later, the dispatcher ordered two officers to respond.

Those officers were assigned to District 1, in South Tampa, but were fighting traffic. Because of how fast the car seemed to be moving, they told dispatch to send another officer from District 3, which covers downtown and east Tampa, she said.

That officer was dispatched at 2:04 p.m., McElroy said. No patrol units were at police headquarters at 411 N. Franklin St. at the time, she said.

Although he remembered wondering when officers would catch up to them, Stoltenberg said he ultimately holds the other driver responsible.

"It's unfortunate the police weren't able to respond, but it's not their fault," he said. "She shouldn't have been driving."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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