4 teens die in fiery Seminole car wreck

The pine tree on 86th Avenue North still bore the scars of impact, the grass around it charred black and the air thick with the acrid smell of smoke.

Alone and in groups, people showed up at the big tree on this quiet residential street to pay tribute to four teenage friends. They were killed shortly after 11 p.m. Friday when the 2005 Lexus IS300 they were riding in collided with another car, then hit the tree before bursting into flames. A fifth friend is in fair condition at a local hospital.

The Lexus, driven by Joseph Scott Ruzecki, 16, of Seminole, was traveling westbound on 86th Avenue North at "what preliminarily appears to be a high rate of speed" when it tried to pass a 1993 Chevrolet Lumina Z34, driven by driven by Richard Allen Goltl, at 11:15 p.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Lumina was trying to make a left turn onto 141st Street when the Lexus tried to pass it on the left, according to the report, which describes what happened next.

The passenger's side of the Lexus hit the Lumina, which spun clockwise, until it came to a rest facing east on 86th Ave. N.

The Lexus then struck the large tree on the south shoulder of 86th Avenue North.

Keith Vincent MacCollom, 17, of Seminole, LeShawn Allan Smith, 16, of Largo, Corey Kenneth Lepore, 17, of Seminole and Nathan Richardson, 15, of Pinellas Park were all ejected onto the street.

Ruzecki, the only one in the car wearing a seat belt, remained in the Lexus, which then caught fire.

Ruzecki, MacCollom, and Richardson died at the scene. Smith died on the way to Suncoast Hospital. Lepore was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in stable condition.

Goltl, the driver of the Lumina, was not injured.

Smith attended Largo High School, according to Pinellas County School District spokeswoman Andrea Zahn. Ruzecki, Richardson, MacCollom and Lepore are Seminole High School students, she said.

The crash took place just blocks from Ruzecki's home on 133rd Street, said Seminole High School principal Walter Weller. Weller said he has no idea where the kids were coming from or where they were going.

Under state law, 16-year-olds "cannot drive from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless accompanied by a 21-year-old licensed driver or driving to and from work."

The parents of all five teens were on scene last night and next of kin notification was made there, according to FHP spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins. The investigation, he said, is ongoing. There are no early indications that alcohol was involved in the crash, said Gaskins. Officials are awaiting the results of autopsies and toxicology exams, he said.

It Was Just Awful

Marcia Berry, who lives on the corner of 86 Avenue North and 141st Street, said her two children and nieces and nephews visiting for the Easter holiday were shaken up by the wreck. She and her husband, Curtis Maki, had taken the children to another relative's home Saturday morning.

"My kids and my husband ran outside and said the car had exploded," Berry said. "it was just awful."

This morning, Seminole High students left bouquets of flowers at the base of the tree the car hit.

"It's just unbelievable," said Emily Sutch, 18, a Seminole High senior. "You hear about these things all the time and you never think this would happen."

As MacCollom's cousin, Natalie Emmons, 19, leaned against another tree, crying, two Seminole students remembered their friends.

Melissa Ostrowski, 16, said went to the scene last night after getting a call that the boys were in a car crash.

"We just rushed, rushed down here," said Ostrowski, a junior.

Sonja Stenzel, 17, also a junior, said she was in shock.

"I cannot even believe this," she said.

"I feel like I am going to see Keith come up behind me at our locker," said Ostrowski.

"I know," said Stenzel. "They are all close-knit family."

Another friend, Jake Oakes, 18, arrived on a motorcycle and joined the girls at the tree.

Oakes said he received a call at about 1 a.m. about the crash, but couldn't bring himself to come out here at that point. He picked up a few twigs from the charred ground and said, "Jesus, four people. ... It's crazy."

Oakes said that MacCollom was a star basketball player at Seminole High. Oakes has been friends with MacCollom, Ruzecki and Lepore for about two years and recently became friends with Richardson, whom he called "Little Nute."

"They are great kids," Oakes said. "Always clowning around. They are the heart and soul of Seminole.

"I love these kids," Oakes said. "I hope Corey makes it. I will never forget this day."

Jeff Endrulat, 48, from North Redington Beach, heard about the crash on the news and even though didn't know the kids in the crash, brought his three children to see the aftermath. He said when he was young, "I almost lost a friend to something almost identical to this and it left a mark on me that I will never forget."

He particularly wanted to show his oldest son, Derek, 15, "the long-term affects of a short-term decision."

Endrulat said he feels terrible for the families involved. His son said the scene was "horrifying."

"The smell, the sight, all the tire tracks in the yard - and nothing happened to the tree," Derek Endrulat said.

Popular Kids

On his MySpace page, MacCollom says he plays basketball at Seminole High School. The page, with picture of him playing basketball, lists his favorite basketball team as the Miami Heat and his interests as "BASKETBALL... football... GIRLS.... any kind of sport..." Among his favorite movies were Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, Water Boy and Happy Gilmore.

He listed his heroes as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and "basically any basketball legend."

His favorite band was Blink 182.

By Saturday morning, friends started leaving condolence messages.

Ben Emmons remembers his cousin, MacCollom, as a fun kid and said the family is "doing ok."

"But if we stop to think about it, then it turns into how it was when we found out," he said. "I'm still waiting to wake up, but I know my cuz is in a way better place."

"Keith was one of the coolest kids around," said Emmons. "Everyone loved to be around him. He loved the game of basketball, everything about it. As for Joey, LaShawn and Nute, they were some of his best friends and were the same way. They will be missed greatly."

Richardson also played basketball at Seminole High School, according to a friend.

He liked to fish for tarpon at Redington Pier, according to Creighton Goodyear.

"I just saw him the other day too and talked to him for a minute and he was talking to me about how he messed his leg up in baseball and how he had to sit the rest of the season out," Goodyear wrote via MySpace. "Sucks that he died. I will miss him."

Tygue O'Connor, 17, a Seminole High junior, said he knew everyone but Smith.

"Keith was a fun kid," said O'Connor in a MySpace message. "He joked around a lot, lightened the mood, and brought a smile to everyone's face when they saw him in the halls."

"Keith was obsessed with basketball, that was his sport. He loved to do crazy things, and being around the water since he lived right by it."

O'Connor wrote that although he and Ruzecki had a falling out, "we fixed things. I respected him."

Lepore, he said, "was one of the funniest kids I knew. He definitely knew how to make people laugh."

O'Connor said that Richardson was also quite popular.

"Nate was a freshmen and everyone in school already knew who he was," said O'Connor. "This whole thing is just the worst possible thing that could've happened."