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Car, county truck crash head-on

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published March 22, 2007

TAMPA - A car trying to pass another crashed head-on into a county truck Wednesday, sending four people to the hospital, investigators said.

The accident happened about 12:30 p.m. on 78th Street, south of Causeway Boulevard.

Toddricks Grant, 20, driving north on a Toyota Avalon, tried to pass in the southbound lane, Hillsborough sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

About the same time, William Bechtelheimer, 46, was southbound in a half-ton Hillsborough County Public Works truck.

Near 36th Avenue S, the two drivers swerved to miss each other, both leaving the road. There, they hit head-on, Carter said.

Little information was available Wednesday on the men.

Grant, of 5814 Hammon Drive in Tampa, has only a learner's license, according to records with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said that Bechtelheimer has been a county employee since 1990.

Driving records showed both men had previously been cited for failing to obey a traffic device, but adjudication was withheld in both cases.

One of the Toyota passengers, Henry Williams, 22, of 5820 Hammon Drive, Tampa, was flown by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. TGH spokesman John Dunn said Williams was in critical condition.

The second passenger in the car, Johnny McCuller, 18, of 744 S 58th Street, Tampa, also was hospitalized, the Sheriff's Office said, but it was unclear where he was taken.

Both drivers were listed in serious condition at Tampa General.

Deputies said charges were pending.

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this story. Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 22, 2007, 01:44:53]