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Boy, 11, hit by car while crossing the street

By Times Staff
Published June 14, 2006

SPRING HILL - An 11-year-old boy was hit by a car Tuesday as he tried to run across the street. The accident happened about 2:45 p.m. on Northcliffe Boulevard just east of Deltona Boulevard. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Trevor Gagliano, 11, was waved across the road by one driver, but the driver in the other lane - 41-year-old Bill Westrom - didn't see him. Westrom, of Spring Hill, saw six or eight cars stacked up in the left lane and figured someone was trying to make a turn, so he kept going. Next thing he knew, the boy was in front of him. "I had 3 feet to react. Then boom. I watched him go up on the hood," Westrom said. "It was scary. I've got a kid of my own." Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Larry C. Coggins Jr. said Westrom was not at fault: "The pedestrian is at fault. He violated the right of way." But no citation will be given to Gagliano, who was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa where he is in good condition. "I think he learned a lesson," Coggins said.

Deputies arrest man in two fast-food burglaries

BROOKSVILLE - A Brooksville man has been arrested and charged with breaking into two fast-food restaurants last week. On Friday, an employee at the Hardee's restaurant at 6292 Commercial Way in Spring Hill came to work and found a man that deputies identified as Michael W. Watson forcing open the cash register, according to the Hernando Sheriff's Office. Deputies determined that he had smashed and come in through the drive-through window. Deputies said Watson told them that he was under the influence of drugs and needed the money to keep up his habit. He also matched the description of the man who burglarized the Arby's restaurant at 12915 Cortez Blvd. on June 4 and was charged with that crime as well. In the past, he has been convicted of burglary, attempted burglary and drug possession. He is being held in the Hernando County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

WEATHER

TODAY: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 88. Southwest wind between 6 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and a half-inch possible.

TONIGHT: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low near 73. Southwest wind between 6 and 9 mph becoming calm.

[Last modified June 14, 2006, 11:34:15]