 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Teen driver accused of ramming girl's car
By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- Sarah Donahue describes it as a "really screwed-up teenager love triangle thing." The Pasco County Sheriff's Office describes it as aggravated battery with a motor vehicle. Donahue, an 18-year-old senior at Land O'Lakes High School and a self-described honor student, said she did nothing wrong Tuesday evening. But deputies say she intentionally rammed a car trying to pass her on U.S. 41, causing the 17-year-old driver to lose control and flip the car. So who's to believe? Donahue on Wednesday gave the Times this version: Donahue said she had broken up with a boy not long ago and got into an argument with his cousin about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday outside the Lil' Champ convenience store on U.S. 41, near the intersection with Bowman Road. She said the cousin's friend, whom Donahue said she knew only as Shannon, also got angry and squealed out of the parking lot in her 1996 Nissan Sentra, headed north on U.S. 41. Donahue said she followed the girl in her 2002 Pontiac Sunfire, but she said she was headed to a friend's house to talk about upcoming senior activities at school. Donahue said the girl purposely slowed way down to 30 mph on the two-lane road, so Donahue pulled close to her bumper and flashed her bright lights. The girl responded with an obscene hand gesture, Donahue said. Donahue said she then passed the girl, who then pulled close to Donahue's bumper and started flashing her bright lights. Donahue said the boy she had been arguing with then passed both girls in his car. Donahue said the girl, Shannon, then tried to pass her again. "She was passing me, getting really close to me," Donahue said. "I turned my wheel to the right to avoid a crash. Her car made contact and pushed me off the road. Then her car jerked back left, which caused her to go off the road and hit an embankment and flip." Donahue said she left her car to see if the girl was injured. The girl, later identified by deputies as a student at Hudson High School, suffered only minor injuries. But she and the boy whom Donahue had argued with told deputies a different tale about the crash. According to sheriff's reports, both of them told deputies that Donahue intentionally swerved into the 17-year-old as she tried to pass Donahue on U.S. 41. They also said that two girls riding with Donahue, her best friend and Donahue's younger sister, told the Hudson High School girl "you deserve it" after the wreck. But Donahue told the Times Wednesday that wasn't true. Deputies apparently believed otherwise, because they arrested Donahue on a charge of aggravated battery with a motor vehicle. They took the 18-year-old to nearby Land O'Lakes jail. After several hours in a cell, Donahue posted $5,000 bond and returned home at 6 a.m. Wednesday. She said she missed a computer class exam and doesn't know if she'll return to school before classes end for seniors on Friday. She said she plans to file a complaint about the charge, graduate May 24 and head as planned to Pasco-Hernando Community College. But Tuesday's incident has made the journey anything but smooth sailing. "I'll tell you this much: I went to jail for something I didn't do," Donahue said. "I'm facing a felony charge, and I'm graduating high school in a week. It's quite a graduation present, don't you think?" -- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
