Police: 5 hurt when stolen SUV causes crash

CLEARWATER --  The driver of a vehicle stolen during a test drive was arrested Thursday after police said he ran a stop sign and slammed into an SUV, critically injuring two of the SUV's four occupants.

The crash took place around 4:40 p.m.

Police said Randy Sparklin (left), who has previous arrests in Pinellas County for aggravated stalking and a domestic violence injunction, got a loaner gold 2007 Nissan Pathfinder vehicle from a local auto dealership then placed a stolen license plate on the SUV. Then, he drove toward downtown, "in the area of his ex-wife's place of employment" at the Clearwater Municipal Services Building.

Driving the stolen SUV, Sparklin made an illegal U-turn from northbound Myrtle Avenue and picked up speed; a patrolling Clearwater police officer spotted the illegal turn and followed Sparklin as he sped through side streets.

Sparklin ran a stop sign, first striking a red Isuzu Rodeo then slamming into a building at 823 Court St., police said. The impact caused heavy structural damage and forced an evacuation. Authorities said no one in the building was hurt.

Sparklin was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center, where he remains in good condition. Two passengers in the Isuzu- Christine Liakopoulos, 70, and Odysseas Liakopoulos - remain there in critical condition, hospital officials said.

The city's public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly Watts said in a statement Odysseas Liakopoulos "appears to have the worst injury with a cervical fracture," an injury that could cause paralysis.

The Isuzu's driver, Christ Demopoulos, 70, remains at Bayfront in good condition. A third passenger in the SUV, 71-year-old Mary Demopoulos, was treated and released.

Sparklin, of Largo, was charged with two counts of felony reckless driving involving serious bodily injury, three counts of reckless driving with injury, and fleeing and eluding among other various traffic violations. He was also charged with aggravated stalking.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Photo courtesy Pinellas County Sheriff's Office