TAMPA - A 40-year-old man who directs traffic at Tampa International Airport was suspended for three days without pay for his role in an accident that damaged three cars and left an elderly woman injured.
Airport Police Department Chief Paul Sireci suspended Ricky D. Murrray, a traffic specialist, from Sunday through today after finding Murray violated department rules by forcing a passenger to move a car as the driver was inside meeting relatives.
The April 13 incident began when Murray approached a Honda Civic parked at the airport. He told a man sitting in the passenger seat to move the car. The passenger, Carmelo Cordero III, 29, of Spring Hill, told Murray he didn't have a driver's license nor did he know how to shift the car's manual transmission, according to Cordero's written statement to police.
Murray, in his written statement, said he assisted Cordero by "reaching inside and placing the car gear shift in neutral." With Cordero behind the wheel, the car lurched forward, hit two cars and knocked a 73-year-old Tampa woman to the ground. The woman sustained minor injuries.
Murray, an employee for 21/2 years, acted incompetently "by failing to recognize that Mr. Cordero could not safely operate a vehicle with a stick shift," Sireci wrote.
"He failed to perform his ... duties by requiring Mr. Cordero to move the vehicle and not exercising another option, such as having the vehicle towed or calling a police officer to determine the driving status of Mr. Cordero."
Traffic specialists are not sworn officers.
An investigator also found that Murray violated policies on truthfulness regarding whether Cordero told Murray he couldn't drive. Murray told investigators that Cordero had told him "he could not drive a stick good, but he never told him that he could not drive."
"His own actions in trying to help Mr. Cordero move the vehicle are a clear indication that Traffic Specialist Murray was aware Mr. Cordero could not drive this vehicle," the investigator concluded.
Still, Sireci disagreed, saying that Murray, during a civil service hearing this month, didn't recall Cordero telling him he couldn't drive at all or that he didn't have a driver's license.
"I believe he was being truthful with me," said Sireci, who served as hearing officer.
Authorities notified Murray of his suspension Friday. He may appeal within 10 days of learning of the suspension. Reached at his Riverview home, Murray declined to speak to a reporter.
