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Man dies pursuing his wife with gun

He crashes his motorcycle after she calls for help on her cell phone from her car.

By DEMORRIS LEE and S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published August 7, 2005

TAMPA - Curtis Lee George's family members were trying to understand Saturday how the man they knew as a happily married father of three could have ended up dead after a high-speed chase of his wife.

Police say Curtis George, 45, died after he crashed his 2005 Suzuki motorcycle late Friday night as he chased his wife, who called police for help as she fled in a black Cadillac Escalade.

Police say they saw George pointing a gun at his wife as he pursued her at high speeds.

"We don't know what motivated him to chase his wife," Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said.

George's wife of many years, Sandra L. George, 42, was not injured.

Family members said they were stunned at the turn of events.

"Every time I saw him and every time I saw Sandra, there was nothing but happiness," said Otis Henderson, the Georges' nephew who lives in Safety Harbor. "We never expected anything like this. It's crazy, and it's very surprising."

According to police, Sandra George of 15906 Prince William Place in Odessa called for help on her cell phone around 11 p.m. Friday. She told authorities she was driving her Escalade down Interstate 4 as her husband chased her on his motorcycle, pointing a gun at her car.

As two Tampa police officers began searching for the couple, Sandra George reported that her husband had followed her southbound on Interstate 275. Police told her to exit at Dale Mabry Highway, which she did. Curtis George was right behind her, police said.

Two police officers saw the car and motorcycle drive through a Best Buy parking lot and tried to stop them using lights and sirens. They said they could see that Curtis George was pointing a gun at his wife.

Then, they lost sight of the chase.

But officers in a police helicopter saw Curtis George lose control of his motorcycle at Kennedy Boulevard and Hesperides Street, crashing into a business marquee.

Curtis George was pronounced dead on the scene. Police said a Jennings 9mm pistol was found on his body.

The odometer on the motorcycle George was riding was frozen at 130 miles per hour on impact, Durkin said. It's not clear whether he was driving that fast, or whether the crash caused the reading.

"He was traveling at a high rate of speed," Durkin said.

The Georges had been married for more than 20 years and had three adult children, said Wendy Monroe, a sister who lives in Fayetteville, N.C. She said she spoke with her brother, who was one of six children, last Wednesday.

"It was casual talk," Monroe, 46, said. "I asked how he was. He said he was doing fine. This is a shock to all of us."

The Georges were the owners of Harbor Point, a group home in Safety Harbor. Sandra George, a registered licensed nurse, is listed as the company's resident agent.

Henderson said Curtis George was his favorite uncle.

"He was a good person and one of the best uncles in the world," Henderson said. "He was a cool and collective person. He didn't argue. He was respectful."

Brother Otis George is just as shocked that his brother would chase his wife and ultimately end up dead. Otis George said his brother was the man who always took care of his family and that everyone who knows his brother is shocked.

"He was a real good person," Otis George of Safety Harbor said Saturday. "It had to be something real bad to make him snap like that. I don't know what it is."

[Last modified August 7, 2005, 01:29:21]