Two men dead in Crosstown crash

TAMPA — A 22-year-old driver and his 26-year-old passenger were killed Friday night on the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway after the car lost control and hit a metal guard rail.

Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins said Keith J. Scragg, 22, of Brandon, and passenger, Louis M. Hall, 26, of Tampa, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Gaskins said the Mittsubishi they were in was traveling fast eastbound on the Expressway, weaving in and out of slower traffic, when the driver lost control near a curve just west of the N 22nd Street exit. The car spun out of control and onto the outside shoulder at the exit ramp, hitting a roadway sign before colliding with a metal guard rail.

The impact caused the car to rotate into a grass embankment between the Expressway and the exit ramp, Gaskins said. Scraggs was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected, he said. Hall was wearing his seatbelt, Gaskins said.

Justin George, Times staff writer

Fire burns garage in St. Petersburg house

ST. PETERSBURG -- St. Petersburg firefighters battled a stubborn blaze in a house in Lakewood Estates tonight.

The fire started at 2830 Desoto Way S about 8:40 p.m. The owner of the house, Don Mason, told investigators that he was replacing the fuel filter on a 1973 Volkswagon van when it caught on fire. Mason tried to push the van out of the garage but couldn't, said spokesman Lt. Joel Granata of St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue. The fire spread to the garage as he called 911.

When firefighters arrived, the front of the house was engulfed in flames, Granata said. Even worse, the Volkswagon's engine contained a magnesium block, which burns too hot to be extinguished with water. Firefighters called a hazardous materials team, which used a foam chemical to put out the fire in the van.

Paramedics treated one firefighter for minor injuries. Fire officials estimated the damage at about $40,000, mostly limited to the garage. The fire is under investigation.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Fire burns hot tub in Redington Beach

REDINGTON BEACH - Seminole Fire Rescue put out a fire that destroyed a hot tub at On the Beach Condominiums at 17854 Lee Ave.

The fire started about 5 p.m. The resident of the fifth-story unit noticed black smoke coming from the balcony, where the hot tub was located.

Seminole Fire Rescue sent 10 units in its initial response, fearing the fire could spread in a multiunit high-rise. Some residents evacuated. But when firefighters put it out, only the hot tub and part of the railing on the balcony were damaged, said spokeswoman Alison Shanabrook. No one was injured.

"It seemed like it was going to be a lot bigger than it turned out to be," Shanabrook said.

The hot tub wasn't on when the fire started, Shanabrook said. The problem appeared to be electrical.

Stephanie Garry, Times staff writer

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Investigators approve hospital plan

TAMPA - Tampa General Hospital has fixed safety problems endangering psychiatric patients there, federal officials said Friday afternoon.

After a four-day investigation, surveyors have signed off on the hospital's plan to improve safety in its psychiatric unit, ending the threat to stop Medicare funding to the hospital.

Two psychiatric patients killed themselves in the same room at Tampa General within two days in July, prompting a government investigation. The hospital flunked that investigation, prompting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to declare the hospital's patients "in immediate jeopardy."

"We've had seven surveyors here for the past four days, and they've reported that every issue that was raised has been addressed," said hospital spokesman John Dunn said Friday. "They are comfortable with the care we are providing on that unit."

CMS spokeswoman Lee Millman also said the hospital had passed the inspection.

"At Tampa General, the immediate jeopardy was removed, and there were no conditions out of compliance," she said.

In the unit, the hospital replaced closet and bathroom doors with doors designed for safety, started video monitoring in all patient rooms and other parts of the psychiatric units, and set in place a policy saying that patients needing constant observation would be assigned a staff member and be allowed to sleep in their rooms, not in the hallways as regulators found had occurred. The hospital also said that the nurse in charge of the unit will conduct an unannounced inspection, and report all findings to the hospital's nurse manager.

Lisa Greene, Times staff writer

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Bayshore Drive closing for Saturday morning event

ST. PETERSBURG - Bayshore Drive NE from Second Avenue to Fifth Avenue will be closed from 5 to 10 a.m. Saturday for a 5K run and one mile walk.

The route starts at Straub Park, loops south around the Mahaffey Theater and ends at Straub Park. The run is sponsored by First to the Cross Ministries in St. Petersburg. The event starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 11:30 a.m.

Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

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Substitute teacher accused of stabbing roommate

BRANDON - A 58-year-old Hillsborough County substitute teacher is under arrest, accused of stabbing his roommate during an argument, then elbowing his arresting officer.

James Jones Jr. of 1009 Old Field Drive was arrested this morning after, detectives say, he stabbed his roommate in the upper back, leaving a 2-inch laceration. Jones chased his roommate around the house, then out to the street, according to an arrest affidavit.

While Deputy Tim Sheridan placed Jones in cuffs, the suspect elbowed the deputy, causing no injury, according to the arrest report.

Jones faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery on a law enforcement officer and obstructing or opposing an officer with violence.

Jones has worked as a substitute since August 2001, according to school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe, and worked at schools across the county. "He was a very busy substitute," Cobbe said. Jones will no longer be called upon to fill in in classrooms, Cobbe said.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

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Seventh-grader caught with loaded gun at school

NEW PORT RICHEY - A school resource officer at Seven Springs Middle School arrested a seventh-grader today who had a loaded handgun in his backpack, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said a school official noticed several kids looking into a student's backpack and acting suspiciously. When confronted, the student, 12, claimed it was "just a BB gun."

It was actually a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun with a bullet in the chamber, the Sheriff's Office said.

The student, whose name is being witheld because of his age, faces a charge of possession of a firearm on school property. He told authorities he brought the gun to school to show a friend.

Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer

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Man in critical condition after being hit by car

ST. PETERSBURG - A 43-year-old St. Petersburg man was crossing 38th Avenue N at 48th Street from south to north when he was struck by a Honda Accord, authorities said.

Byron Companion was seen trying to cross the street with his head down and did not appear to be aware of traffic, according to the St. Petersburg police. Moments later Companion was hit by a Honda being driven by Gerard Des-Roches, 56, of St. Petersburg.

Neither alcohol nor drugs contributed to the incident, according to police. Companion was transported to Bayfront Medical Center, where he is listed in critical condition.

Nicole Hutcheson, Times staff writer

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Tampa jail inmate who attempted suicide dies

TAMPA - A Falkenburg Road Jail inmate who attempted to hang himself Monday has died, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office.

A detention deputy found Raphael Lopez, 28, standing next to the door with a sheet around his neck Monday, spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. The deputy called for help, and the detention emergency response team arrived and cut Lopez down.

Carter said it appeared Lopez wrapped a sheet around his neck and attached it to the door jamb. Hillsborough Fire Rescue officials took Lopez  to Tampa General Hospital, where he died.

He had been booked March 14 into the jail at 520 Falkenburg Road.

Woman accused of pushing pot on teens

TAMPA - A 24-year-old Tampa woman was arrested on multiple child abuse and lewd and lascivious battery charges after deputies discovered her in a van with four juveniles, encouraging them to smoke marijuana.

Marbelis Margarita Dorado, left, of 2920 W Giddens Ave. was spotted in a 2004 Dodge Caravan around 9:35 p.m. in Mort Park, which closes at sundown. The responding deputy smelled marijuana when he approached the van and saw four teenagers inside, two 14-year-olds and two 15-year-olds.

Dorado admitted to providing and encouraging the teens to smoke pot, deputies say. But she also was charged in connection with an Aug. 30 complaint filed by the mother of one of the 15-year-old males in the van, charging Dorado had a sexual relationship with the boy.

Dorado admitted she has been involved with the boy for two months, deputies say. She faces four counts of child abuse, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of marijuana and five counts of lewd or lascivious battery.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

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Library rape victim could regain her sight

TAMPA -- The teenager beaten and raped at the Bloomingdale Regional Library in April can see light and shadows and may regain her sight if her brain heals properly, the girl’s family learned this week.

A neuro-ophthamologist examined the girl Thursday and determined that there was no optical damage, her mother said. She has about 10 percent of her vision. But with time and good fortune, she may one day see again, said the mother, who is not being identified because of the nature of the crime.

"It is exciting news," her mother said, speaking in Vietnamese. "I want to thank everyone for their prayers and ask that the public keeps praying for her 100 percent recovery."

Her daughter, an 18-year-old East Bay High School student attacked weeks before graduation, lost her vision and the ability to talk, walk and move after suffering multiple strokes when her attacker tried to strangle her.

She has been in a rehabilitation hospital trying to relearn everything. She communicates by squeezing her mother's hands.

Pinellas sheriff candidate arrested

Gregory S. Pound, a write-in candidate for Pinellas County Sheriff, is now getting to know the inside of the county jail.

On Thursday night, the candidate for the county's top law enforcement job was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing after warning.

According to the arrest report, at around 9 p.m. management for the Hilton at 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg, asked Pound, 52, to leave the hotel property.

When Pound refused, he was arrested and taken to jail. He spent the night in jail and was still being held there Friday morning in lieu of $250 bail.

-Jonathan Abel, Times staff writer

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Lutz intersection open to alternating lanes

LUTZ - The intersection of Van Dyke and Whirley roads that was closed earlier this morning is open to alternating lanes, according to Hillsborough County Public Works. The intersection was closed earlier this morning following two wrecks and will likely not be fully open until early this afternoon.

Early this morning, a car crashed into a pole, hit a wall and then flipped, a sheriff's spokesperson said, citing alcohol as a potential cause for the accident.

Another car on the road, possibly straining to get a look at the first wreck, also crashed.

Information about the drivers and the vehicles is not yet available, but injuries were minor.

Kim Wilmath, Times staff writer

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Dunedin woman dies after being pulled from water

DUNEDIN - A 69-year-old woman pulled from the water at Honeymoon Island State Park last night died around 8 p.m., according to a report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Suzanne Kunis, 1532 Glen Hollow Drive, was found face down in the water by her husband, Mark Farber, who pulled her to shore. Kunis and Farber were at the beach with friends, and Kunis had gone swimming in waist-deep water at about 7 p.m., deputies said.

Paramedics started CPR on Kunis and took her to Mease Dunedin Hospital, where she died about an hour later. Deputies say that Kunis may have experienced a medical emergency that caused her to collapse while in the water. An investigation is ongoing.

Kim Wilmath, Times staff writer

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