Man runs over wife, cops say

She was trying to stop him from leaving with their baby girl, officials say.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Jamey Vernon Warsecke, 33, was arrested Wednesday.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Deep down inside, Lisa Walters didn't really think her husband would do it.

He would never run her over.

But with a flick of his foot on the gas, deputies say, Jamey Vernon Warsecke proved his wife wrong.

Warsecke ran over his spouse Tuesday night with a Chevy Blazer as she sat in front of it to keep him from driving off with their baby girl, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

For a few seconds a neighbor thought Walters, 31, was dead in the street. Then she started moving again, covered in grease from the Blazer's undercarriage.

"She said she never thought that he would hit her with a car or she wouldn't have stayed in front of it, " a sheriff's deputy wrote. "She now knows he will kill her if he gets the chance."

That was at 9:50 p.m. Tuesday. Later that night, Hernando County deputies found Warsecke in Spring Hill. He volunteered to return to Pasco. It is unclear from reports whether the baby was with him then.

He stepped across the county line at 12:26 a.m. Wednesday and was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The 33-year-old New Port Richey man is being held in the county jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.

"She's very lucky - lucky to have survived this ordeal, " said Pasco sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin.

It's the second time recently that deputies have been called to the Alken Circle home of the couple, who have been married 21/2 years.

Warsecke was arrested March 15 on a charge of domestic battery, accused of grabbing his wife and leaving her scratched up. The charge was later dropped.

It wasn't the first arrest for either spouse. Warsecke has past arrests on charges of possession of marijuana, DUI and larceny; Walters has them on charges of DUI, burglary and smuggling contraband into prison.

The sheriff's report does not give Walters' version of how the dispute started Tuesday. Warsecke told deputies it started when his wife came home and declared "she was in charge and if he didn't like it she would have him put in jail."

Then it somehow escalated. Walters was on the phone with 911, trying to prevent Warsecke from taking 10-month-old Lilian away.

Warsecke grabbed his wife and threw her hard to the ground in the driveway, neighbor Tresea Gee told deputies. Then he got in the red SUV and locked the doors.

Walters banged on the back window. The neighbor pulled her away before Warsecke backed up.

Then Walters sat in the road in front of the SUV, the report said, still on the phone with 911.

Gee told Warsecke not to run over his wife, the report said.

Warsecke said he didn't care.

"She's drunk and crazy, " he told the neighbor, according to the report.

Then Warsecke drove over his spouse, deputies say. The middle of the SUV passed over the wife, the Sheriff's Office said, while the tires missed her.

Deputies arrived within minutes to see an injured Walters, greasy, bruised and complaining of pain all over. She suffered "severe" injuries that weren't life-threatening, the Sheriff's Office said, and was released from Community Hospital.

She could not be reached for comment. It was unclear who had custody of the baby.

When the law caught up with Warsecke, he told them a different story. He said it was his parents who drove him and the baby to Spring Hill.

Then his story changed. Warsecke admitted to deputies he did drive the baby away, even though he had no driver's license. He told deputies he was enrolled in a pre-trial intervention program from a previous court case.

But Warnecke denied running over his wife. And he said he was willing to take a lie detector test to prove it.

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or 727 869-6236.

[Last modified June 27, 2007, 21:36:42]