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5 riders injured in public bus crash

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 29, 2007

A pickup truck sideswiped a public bus Wednesday afternoon, sending the truck driver and five bus passengers to hospitals.

The crash happened at 1:11 p.m. in the northbound lane of 56th Street, just north of Powhattan Avenue, investigators say.

The HARTline bus had stopped in the right lane of 56th Street to pick up a passenger when a red Nissan Frontier truck veered into the left side of the bus, said HARTLine spokeswoman Jill Cappadoro.

The truck, driven by Shirley A. Dona, 51, of 4708 Presidential St., then spun clockwise, hitting a white Chevy Malibu driven by Gladys Washington, 78, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office.

One person was taken to Tampa General Hospital. Two went to University Community Hospital. Three people went to St. Joseph's Hospital, investigators said. None had life-threatening injuries, deputies said.

The crash, which is still under investigation, closed the northbound lanes on that stretch of 56th Street, while deputies cleared away the wreckage. No charges have been filed.

Several bus passengers sat on a bench along the road and waited for another bus.

One was Robert Copeland, 51, a drywall framer.

Copeland said he had put his bike on a rack on the front of the bus just seconds before the crash.

"All of a sudden I heard smashing," he said. "A lady in the truck was screaming."

He said he felt fortunate to have escaped serious injury.

"The reason the bus was stopped was because of me," he said.

TAMPA

Steinbrenner's daughter files divorce

George Steinbrenner's daughter filed divorce papers this week against husband Steve Swindal, a New York Yankees general partner.

Swindal, 52, was arrested by St. Petersburg police at about 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 15 and charged with driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty on March 15, and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for April 5 at South County Traffic Court in St. Petersburg.

Jennifer Swindal filed the divorce papers Tuesday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court's family law department, Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein said Wednesday. Rubenstein said the papers cited "irreconcilable differences."

Reached by telephone, Swindal said he didn't want to comment beyond the statement or address his role with the team.

CLEARWATER

Code violations close men's halfway house

Citing a list of fire and building code violations - including padlocked exit doors, exposed wiring and a malfunctioning fire alarm system - officials Wednesday shut down the dilapidated halfway house Steve Kautz's nonprofit organization runs to help men overcome drug and alcohol addictions.

The 26 men who lived at the short-term housing facility at 504 Seminole St. all had to quickly find a new place to stay. Some went to Everybody's Tabernacle, a homeless shelter, and some went to other facilities.

NEW PORT RICHEY

Guard says grounds just weren't safe

The exclusive Gulf Landings neighborhood is being sued for failing to keep its grounds safe.

The plaintiff? A security guard who was hired to patrol the area. In a lawsuit filed this week in Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court, Joseph Sutherland claims he slipped and fell on a wet floor outside the community clubhouse while on patrol Aug. 28, 2005.

The lawsuit blames Gulf Landings Association for failing "to keep its premises in a reasonably safe condition." The association president did not return a call Wednesday for comment.

[Last modified March 29, 2007, 01:24:58]