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With child in lap, woman drives into TIA fish tank

TIA photo

The damage left after a car hit a fish tank Monday night at Tampa International Airport.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2009

Updated: 11/10/2009 06:54 pm

TAMPA - Yamile Campuzano-Martine went to an airport and wound up in an aquarium.

With two children in the vehicle – including an unrestrained 6-year-old in her lap – Campuzano-Martine lost control of her 1994 Ford Ranger and crashed into a fish exhibit at Tampa International Airport, police said.

The collision at TIA's blue arrival area Monday night demolished a 1,500-gallon tank worth $50,000 to $100,000. It also killed most of the 30 to 40 saltwater fish; airport employees gathered some of the water and surviving fish in a bucket.

"It's unlikely that any of the animals will survive," Tom Wagner of the Florida Aquarium said Tuesday.

The tank held more than a dozen species, including clownfish, angelfish and blue tang. The fish were worth $3,000 to $5,000, Wagner said.

Tampa Fire Rescue personnel attended to Campuzano-Martine and the two children. The 6-year-old had a knot on his forehead, but Campuzano-Martine declined to have him taken to a hospital, airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said.

No one in the airport was injured.

Campuzano-Martine, 36, who was at the airport to pick up a relative, was cited for careless driving, failure to use a child restraint device and failure to provide a driver's license, Geoghagan said.

The Marine Exhibit is part of the airport's El Movimiento del Mar public art program. The airport spent $200,000 on the exhibit, including the 12-foot tank; the aquarium provided the fish and maintenance.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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