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Sunken car may be connected to death

LUTZ - Investigators have found the red Pontiac Grand Prix they say was used in the death of a Louisiana man during a parking lot brawl Sept. 14.

Dive teams from Pasco and Hillsborough counties found the car in a 12-foot-deep pond on Geraci Road off Dale Mabry Highway after Pasco sheriff's Detective Pete Weekes alerted them Monday afternoon. Weekes said he asked for a search of the pond after receiving a tip from a friend of Timothy Hahn, 23, of New Hudson, Mich. Hahn is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Todd Byers, who was visiting his brother in Land O'Lakes.

Byers, along with his sister-in-law, Patty Byers, were rammed against a wall after a fight in a parking lot of a Radiant station at State Road 54 and Collier Parkway, officials say. Patty Byers was seriously injured. Using the tipster's information, Weekes said he drove around the area Monday until he found a pond with tire tracks leading to the water. Also, a neighbor told Weekes that Hahn was seen pushing the car into the pond the night of Sept. 15.

Divers did not find a license plate but found the car upside down. On Monday night, they planned to use inflatable equipment to help remove it from the water.

A Tampa-based journalism organization is sponsoring a workshop on Monday that will educate the public on the ins and outs of news coverage.

Called "Speak Out! Get Your News in the News," the event is free and features representatives from every major media company in the Tampa Bay area. News directors, senior editors, producers and reporters will explain the hows and whys of news coverage, and will take questions from the audience.

Hosted by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists, the event is from 7 to 9 p.m. in Fletcher Lounge, within Plant Hall at the University of Tampa, 401 W Kennedy Blvd.

"Too often, the mainstream media seems like an unknowable beast - particularly to communities of color, which may only see a news reporter when a crime or calamity brings attention from elsewhere," said Eric Deggans, association president and the St. Petersburg Times' television critic. "The association is hoping to serve as a bridge between the area's news organizations and the people they cover, teaching non-journalists how to gain reporters' attention while encouraging journalists to build deeper connections with the people they're covering."

For more information, or to RSVP, contact Adrienne Samuels at 727 445-4157 or e-mail her at samuels@sptimes.com