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Vehicle hits concrete piling; Driver dies

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 15, 2007

A 23-year-old Tampa man died Wednesday in a single-car accident after he drove off Interstate 75 southbound into the grassy shoulder and hit a concrete overpass support. The accident happened at 9:40 a.m. near the U.S. 301 exit ramp. The man, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected from his 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee after he hit a support for the Veterans Expressway, according to Florida Highway Patrol. His identity was being withheld late Wednesday pending notification of next of kin.

Roommates' fight hospitalizes man

A fight between roommates led to a stabbing that sent one man to a hospital, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said. Christopher Steven Thurston, 29, remained at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa Wednesday evening, said spokesman Will Darnell. He had been stabbed in the upper chest and leg, and sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin called the injuries serious. Thurston's roommate is a 20-year-old man, but Tobin would not identify him, citing an open investigation. There have been no arrests in the case.

Slaying is city's first this year

A 25-year-old Clearwater man was shot to death early Wednesday after fighting a man in the parking lot of the Palmetto Park apartment complex, police said. No arrests had been made, and investigators were still trying to determine a motive in the slaying. Julian Kaigler and a friend were standing outside in the apartment complex off 1001 Martin Luther King Drive about 2:30 a.m. when two men walked up to them, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. An argument broke out, and Kaigler began struggling with one of the men. Shots rang out, and Kaigler fell to the concrete. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Morton Plant Hospital. It was Clearwater's first homicide of 2007.

Deputy accused of domestic battery

An off-duty Pinellas County sheriff's patrol deputy was arrested early Wednesday on a domestic battery charge after a scuffle with his former fiancee, authorities said. Deputy Jeffery Martin, 32, who lives in New Port Richey, was being held without bail in the Land O'Lakes jail. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office will conduct an administrative investigation. Martin, a deputy for 4 1/2 years, will remain on the job.

[Last modified February 15, 2007, 01:04:25]