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2 die, 1 injured in head-on collision

Police say an SUV swerved into the path of an oncoming car and struck it head-on, killing both drivers and injuring a passenger.

By JAMIE THOMPSON and JADE JACKSON LLOYD
Published February 27, 2005

	[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
	Authorities investigate the scene of crash involving a Chevrolet Suburban and a Ford sedan that happened at Bahia Del Mar Boulevard on the Pinellas County Bayway just before 9 a.m. Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG - For years, Michael and Connie Middendorf used their St. Petersburg apartment to escape the harsh winters of their native North Bend, Ohio, and the stress of his building business.

This weekend, Apartment 17 at 4770 Brittany Drive S held a special allure: It was where they would celebrate Connie's birthday. She turned 51 on Saturday.

Just before 9 a.m., the couple were headed west on the Pinellas County Bayway, toward the beach they loved, when an eastbound 1978 Chevrolet Suburban crossed the double yellow line and hit them head-on.

Michael Middendorf, 52, and Timothy F. Stimpert, 53, the driver of the Suburban, died at the scene. Connie Middendorf was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where she remained in critical condition late Saturday, police said.

Records show Stimpert, of 3850 Belle Vista Drive E in St. Pete Beach, was arrested on a DUI charge Feb. 1. He paid $250 and was released later that day.

St. Petersburg police said they did not know if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, and are awaiting results of toxicology tests.

Stimpert is a convicted felon with a long history of drug offenses and has twice served time in Florida, records show.

Calls to his home, where he lived with relatives, were not returned Saturday.

The accident report says Stimpert's Chevrolet crossed the line "for an unknown reason."

The crash occurred at Bahia Del Mar Boulevard, in front of the sloping greens of the Isla Del Sol golf course. The Ford was in one of two westbound lanes. One carries drivers across the bridge to the beaches, while the other is a right-turn-only lane into a condominium community.

Stimpert's 4,357-pound Suburban was traveling in the single eastbound lane.

The ambulance sirens drew dozens of people from surrounding high-rise condominiums to watch as a Jaws of Life was used to pry the two vehicles open enough to remove the drivers.

The crushed Ford was wedged slightly beneath the aqua-and-white Suburban.

Both drivers lay beneath yellow tarps until the medical examiner arrived. Police asked onlookers to step back as they removed the victims from the cars.

"I don't want you to have to see this," a police officer told the crowd. People moved back a couple yards, then kept watching. Police parked several cruisers around the wrecked cars to block the view.

The section of road was shut down until about 1 p.m. Hundreds of cars backed up, driving slowly into the condominium communities to detour around the crash site.

In Ohio, news of the accident hit neighbors hard on Saturday.

Gary Wooldridge and his wife Deborah have lived down the street from the couple and their 17-year-old daughter, Molly, for the past 18 months.

Tenants of a home owned by the Middendorfs, they described the pair as the type of people to give them a break on the $850 rent if they were a little late in paying and crack a beer with them at the end of the day.

Stimpert's criminal history dates back to at least 1976, when he was arrested for possession of marijuana in Pinellas, records show.

He was released from prison in February 2003 after serving nearly a year for heroin possession. He also was incarcerated about four years, from 1996 to 2000, for trafficking heroin, possessing cocaine and resisting an officer with violence.

Stimpert, a mechanic, was convicted of multiple other drug charges in both Pinellas and Broward counties in the 1990s, records show.

He was arrested on a charge of DUI with property damage and heroin possession by St. Pete Beach police in Oct. 2001. On Feb. 1, Stimpert again was arrested on a charge of DUI by the St. Pete Beach Police Department. He had a blood alcohol level of .06 percent, just below the .08 percent level at which the law presumes impairment, according to court records.

The crash was the latest in a string of fatal accidents across Tampa Bay. A Treasure Island man traveled the wrong way up the Sunshine Skyway bridge early Thursday, killing himself and a 27-year-old Tampa woman in a head-on collision.

Jamie Thompson can be reached at 727 893-8455. Send e-mail to jthompson@sptimes.com Jade Jackson Lloyd can be reached at (727) 893-8410 or via e-mail at jlloyd@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 27, 2005, 00:11:08]