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CHRIS TISCHDeputies stay away from the service and let the man say goodbye to his 2-year-old daughter, who was run over.
LARGO - Kevin Wolfe was worried deputies would be waiting for him, handcuffs dangling from their hands, when he arrived at his daughter's funeral Wednesday afternoon.
But no one in a uniform showed up at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Largo. And Wolfe was allowed to say goodbye to his 2-year-old daughter with his family and friends by his side.
Summer Wolfe died May 22 after she was run over by the family car, which Kevin Wolfe had allowed a 12-year-old boy to drive.
After leaving the church, Wolfe fulfilled a promise: He turned himself in to the Largo Police Department. Wolfe was wanted on charges that he violated probation by smoking marijuana shortly after his daughter's death.
"I'm just glad the cops let me go to my daughter's funeral," Wolfe said before entering the station.
There had been some drama leading up to Summer's funeral. After a drug test showed Wolfe had smoked marijuana, a warrant was issued for his arrest May 26. Wolfe went into hiding, abandoning his apartment and switching hotel rooms each night.
His three children stayed with his sister.
Wolfe, 30, feared deputies would arrest him, then not allow him to attend Summer's funeral. Or that he would be allowed to go only in handcuffs.
He shared his concerns with the St. Petersburg Times in an interview published Saturday, in which he said he would be at the service. Wolfe hoped that if deputies showed up, they would let him attend and arrest him afterward.
But sheriff's detectives chose to stay away from the church, said Sgt. Tim Goodman, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
"We're not that coldhearted," Goodman said. "We knew he was going to be there."
Wolfe faced two charges of felony violation of probation for two previous theft-related charges. The warrants require that he be held without bail.
Prosecutors also have been considering whether to charge him in connection with his daughter's death. He could face a culpable negligence charge that carries a sentence of as much as 15 years in prison.
Amid the drama Wednesday, Wolfe was joined by his wife, his three children and friends to remember Summer, a precocious and brainy girl who rarely failed to make her parents laugh.
"She was very happy, very outgoing," her mother, Michelle, said last week. "Me and her, we were like glue stuck together. She was a comedian. She was very funny."
On May 22, Summer was outside her Longbranch apartment, 2175 62nd St. N, when her father decided to move his Ford Taurus so kids attending a neighbor's birthday party would have space in the parking lot to play kickball. A 12-year-old boy asked whether he could back the car up.
Wolfe, who has never had a driver's license, at first said no, then relented. Wolfe sat in the passenger seat with the door open and his legs hanging out.
Summer got up from a nearby curb and followed her father, though he did not see her. The car then lunged backward. The car door knocked Summer down, and the front wheel ran her over. She died shortly afterward at the hospital.
Police have not identified the 12-year-old boy and don't plan on pursuing charges against him.
They say they had enough probable cause to arrest Wolfe that day on a variety of charges ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony. Largo police did not arrest him, giving him time to grieve.
Two days later, Wolfe's probation officer summoned him for a random drug test. Wolfe admitted he smoked marijuana after Summer's death to help sooth his pain. He failed the exam.
He fled the probation office and headed home, then darted out the back door when deputies came to arrest him. Then he went on the lam.
A warrant was issued Wednesday. It then became the responsibility of the Sheriff's Office to find him, though any police officer who stopped him would discover he was wanted on two warrants and could arrest him.
But Wolfe stayed at large. He tried to check in to area hospitals for mental health treatment but was turned away, friends said.
He arrived at the church early Wednesday, then walked out to a courtyard after the service was over and watched several white doves released in Summer's memory. He hugged his other children.
"The service today was very moving," friend Donna Beckham said afterward. "She was a very special little girl."
After several more minutes inside, Wolfe changed his clothes, donning a Blimpie T-shirt, shorts, a ball cap, sneakers and sunglasses. Clergy members and friends led him to a van, which headed to the police station a few blocks away.
Wolfe stepped out of the van smoking a cigarette, which he said would be his last before he got to jail. He was emotional but grateful he was allowed to attend Summer's service.
"I thought they would be waiting with handcuffs," he said.
Wolfe headed inside and told officers he was a wanted man. His wife, still dressed in her funeral black dress and shaky on her feet with grief, hugged and kissed him as officers pulled his arms behind his back and locked the cuffs around his wrists.
He kissed her on the neck and fought tears. Then the officers led him away.
- Chris Tisch can be reached at 727 445-4156 or at tisch@sptimes.com