 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Tarpon woman, 43, dies after car crash
By KELLEY BENHAM TARPON SPRINGS -- Anna Bennett was almost home when a driver with a long history of traffic violations slammed into her car. Bennett, a 43-year-old cook heading home after working the late shift, died in the hospital Sunday night, almost two days after the wreck at Alt. 19 and Rainville Road. Friends and family filled her apartment Monday afternoon, about a half-mile from the crash scene. "Everyone around here loved her," said Bobbie Peterson, 37, her live-in boyfriend of 10 years. "She was very caring, a very nice person." Police said a Cadillac driven by Leon J. Sperry struck Bennett's car from behind as she waited to turn left onto Rainville Road about 2 a.m. Saturday. Bennett's red Nissan Sentra spun into the southbound lane, where it bumped a P.T. Cruiser before being hit by a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Police said Bennett had not been wearing her seat belt. She was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. Two other people suffered minor injuries. Police said Sperry, 25, of 4001 17th St. N in St. Petersburg, left the accident scene. Police found him at a friend's home about six hours later. He was in jail Monday night, charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death, a second-degree felony. He was not given an alcohol test because too much time had elapsed, said Tarpon Springs Sgt. Jeffrey Young. Police said he had been driving within the 45 mph speed limit when he hit Bennett. Sperry has received more than 15 traffic citations and has had his license suspended twice, according to records. He has four speeding violations, including one for driving 112 mph in a 45 mph zone. He was cited for careless driving in a wreck in 1996. After his Florida license was suspended in 1998 for 30 days, he was cited in an accident for improper backing, driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene. His license was then suspended for a year. His license was valid when Bennett's car was hit over the weekend. Relatives said Bennett loved her work and doted on her boyfriend, her friends and the patients she met in the dining room at Manor Care nursing home, where she worked. A native of South Carolina, she graduated from high school there and served four years in the Army, they said. She moved to Florida about 10 years ago, met Peterson and started working at the nursing home soon after. She loved her job, Peterson said. She didn't work directly with patients but enjoyed talking to them. She never missed a day and picked up double shifts when she could, he said. Bennett and Peterson never married, but he said their relationship was stronger than many marriages. "She would give me anything," he said. Soon after they met, she bought him his first car, he said, a little green Geo Storm. Bennett had no children. She was soon to be named godmother of a 2-year-old boy, said her best friend, Vanessa Reckley of Tarpon Springs. Reckley, the child's grandmother, said Bennett loved to sit out by the curb and talk. Bennett celebrated a birthday last month. Peterson took her to a German restaurant, and Reckley threw a party. Bennett had so many friends that they filled the house and the yard, Reckley said. "She was just the sweetest person anybody could ever know," Reckley said. "Indescribable, really." -- Kelley Benham can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or benham@sptimes.com. Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times North Pinellas desks |
