Tampa woman, 75, dies hot-wiring her own truck

TAMPA — A 75-year-old woman who was authorities say was trying to hot-wire her truck died when the car started suddenly and ran over her.

At about 10:40 Sunday night, Jacqueline Cloward popped the hood to her 1989 Ford F150 truck and was using a screwdriver to start it. The truck was parked in the Sweetbay parking lot at 4519 Gunn Highway and was in drive, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

When it started, it rolled forward over a parking block, knocked Cloward down and ran her over.

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Deputies: Bicyclist killed in crash with deputy had high blood-alcohol level

MANGO — A 26-year-old man with an elevated blood-alcohol level was killed Sunday night after veering his bicycle into the path of a Hillsborough County sheriff's car, the Sheriff's Office said.

Deputy Michael Hannaford, 27, was heading west on U.S. 92 near Mobile Villa Drive when Jonathan Lee Loschen of Seffner peddled his bike into Hannaford's path. The deputy couldn't stop in time and crashed into Loschen, the Sheriff's Office said.

Loschen died at Tampa General Hospital.

Deputies said Loschen's blood-alcohol level was 0.27 at the time of the crash, more than three times the level at which a person is presumed to be impaired.

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License suspended? It's definitely not OK to drive or from the courthouse

When a judge tells you, "Do not leave this courtroom and drive your car from this parking lot," it's a good idea to take this as an order rather than a suggestion.  Thirteen south Florida drivers were quickly nabbed by Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) troopers after ignoring the judge and attempting to make a quick exit from the courthouse lot in their own vehicles Tuesday, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Operation DL-Core is a statewide crackdown by the FHP on drivers who somehow think it's OK to hop behind the wheel and drive to and from the courthouse after having their licenses suspended. FHP Lt. Earl Brown said he was particularly annoyed because these individuals know they are breaking the law.  "They have actually no respect for the laws ... even with the instruction from the judge they continue to drive out on the roadways," he said, as a trooper snagged yet another unlicensed driver behind a Dunkin' Donuts across from the courthouse in Delray Beach.

"A great deal of our traffic crashes or incidents on the interstate involve people with suspended licenses."

Driver collides with deputy's truck and impounded hog in trailer

TAMPA — The light turned green at State Road 39, and a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy hauling a hog in a trailer behind his pickup truck pulled into the intersection.

But authorities say a pickup truck going west on State Road 60 near Plant City didn't stop at the red light and collided with the deputy.

The impact disconnected the hog trailer, sending it into the intersection.

Sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said the deputy had some bumps, bruises and a sore neck.

The other driver, Robert John Gray, 47, of Tampa, sustained lacerations and internal bleeding, and was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital. He was reported in serious but stable condition.

The hog survived the crash uninjured, McKinnon said. The pig was loaded onto another trailer and carried to the sheriff's livestock holding pen.

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Police say dad had 12-year-old son drive him around while he drank, and they got into an accident

TAMPA — Police arrested a food service worker Saturday who they say allowed his 12-year-old son to chauffeur him around in his sport-utility vehicle while he sat drunk in the passenger seat.

Adrian Kegler, 32, of 1608 E. Osborne Ave., was in the passenger seat of the 1995 GMC Yukon when his son, Adrian Kegler Jr., tried to turn the SUV left from Linebaugh Avenue onto N. 11 Street and hit another car, according to a Tampa Police report. The other driver was 8 months pregnant and asked to be taken to a hospital as a precaution. No other injuries were reported and both vehicles received minor damage.

Kegler has been charged with culpable negligence with actual injury, permitting an unauthorized person to drive and child neglect. He was released from the Hillsborough County Jail on $8,250 bail.

Police say texting, truant Tampa teen slams into police car

TAMPA - In what could safely be termed a bad morning, a high school student slammed into a police car Wednesday while texting on her phone, Tampa police said.

First, Katelyn Blaylock, 18, ditched class to drive two of her friends around, police said.

Then, while driving near the intersection of Bruce B. Downs and Palm Springs boulevards, she picked up her cell phone and began texting, police said.

She didn't see the red light or the police car in front of her. Tampa police officer Tanya Manning was stopped at the light when Blaylock's car plowed into the patrol car.

Manning was not injured. Blaylock and a front passenger, Alexis Suda, 18, suffered minor injuries after their airbags deployed. Both cars suffered about $3,000 in damage, police said.

Police took Blaylock, Suda and the third passenger, Ashton Longworth, 17, all of Lutz, back to Freedom High School, where they are students. They were "delivered to the assistant principal," a police statement said. Their parents also were notified.

Blaylock was cited with careless driving, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Justin George, Times staff writer

Gator gives new meaning to 'slow lane’

MANATEE — He was so close. The 400-pound alligator almost made it across the highway.
But for some reason the 9-foot-9 scaly beast stopped in its tracks smack in the middle of the right southbound lane of U.S. 301, south of Tallevast Road.
And it just wouldn’t move.
So at about 5:40 p.m. Sunday, a passing motorist dialed 911.
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies pulled in behind the gator, turned on their emergency lights and set up flares.
Still, it just wouldn’t move. So deputies Lee Harrington, Garrett Johnson, Tim Hartman and Steven Luke shut down the lane and directed motorists around the alligator.
Most of the curious passers-by slammed on their brakes, looked out their car windows and laughed.
Eventually, Florida Wildlife Commission state alligator trappers Bob Cowles and Ken Cowles showed up, tied up the reptile and loaded him into their truck.
The gator didn’t go without a fight, though.
When Bob Cowles put a rope around his neck, the reptile violently began to flop around on the highway.
He hissed, did a few rolls, then ended up in a grassy area along the highway where the trappers eventually were able to put tape around its mouth.
Ken Cowles said the alligator would be transported to Miami-Dade County.
So far this year, Cowles said he’s trapped about 75 alligators in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Last year, he corralled about 250.

From the Bradenton Herald

With her kids in the car, Palm Beach Co. woman rams boyfriend's truck to stop his drunk driving

A Palm Beach Post report via the Associated Press states that a Royal Palm Beach woman told police she crashed her car into her boyfriend's truck to prevent him from driving drunk.

The sheriff's office reports that 33-year-old Lorena Alvarez was charged Thursday for the April 13 crash. That night, authorities say Alvarez put her two children, ages 7 and 1, into her car and went looking for her boyfriend. She eventually found him sitting in his truck in a Winn-Dixie parking lot. That's when authorities say Alvarez pulled up to the truck and rammed it, her children still in the car with her.

Alvarez was charged with aggravated battery and two counts of child abuse. She was being held without bail.

Police finally arrest half-naked driver with .433 BAC and bowel control problems

It took police nearly a year to arrest a 57-year-old Fort Walton Beach man, according to nwfdailynews.com.  But it's not like the associated situation was likely to fade from memory in a hurry.

According to Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies, the man drove off the road and crashed his vehicle into Hurlburt Field's perimeter security fence last June.  After the accident, police discovered that the driver was extremely intoxicated; he was eventually found to have a blood alcohol content of .443, almost four times the legal limit.  Oh, and he was also naked from the waist down and had...um, done...um..."number two" in the driver's seat.

Police charged the man with DUI property damage, driving with a suspended licence and financial responsiblity for property damage.  Apparently there is no law on the books against being just plain disgusting.

St. Petersburg woman accused of leaving 1-month-old on sidewalk before car chase

ST. PETERSBURG -- It's a safety question the parenting books don't address: Do you strap a 1-month-old into your car before you begin a car chase, or do you leave them behind?

A 29-year-old Seminole woman is charged with neglect of a child after authorities say she chose the second option Sunday. 

According to a police report, Melissa J. Foley left her child on the sidewalk in front of her apartment at 9209 Seminole Blvd., Apt. 196, for 10 minutes while engaged in a domestic dispute. According to witnesses, a male, possibly Foley's boyfriend, had arrived at the apartment earlier and set the child down as he knocked on the door. Getting no answer, he made a cellular call. Foley then emerged from the apartment as he left, stepped over the baby girl and pursued him in a car.

According to the report, Foley admitted to abandoning the child and was released from the Pinellas County jail on $5,000 bail.

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From Tampabay.com