Digest

Man now faces life in domestic battery case

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 11, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY

Prosecutors have escalated the charge against a man accused of running over his wife with a sport utility vehicle. Jamey Vernon Warsecke, 34, was charged with attempted first-degree murder by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office in July, according to court records. He had originally been arrested June 27 on a charge of domestic aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities say Warsecke tried to leave the couple's Alken Circle home June 26 with their baby girl. His wife, Lisa Walters, sat in the street in front of the Chevy Blazer, but authorities say that didn't stop Warsecke from putting his foot on the gas and driving over her, leaving her greasy and bruised. Warsecke could face life in prison if convicted of this latest charge.

ODESSA

Victim of home fire in critical condition

A 60-year-old woman injured in a mobile home fire at Country Place Village remained in critical condition on Friday, according to Tampa General Hospital. Firefighters pulled Gayle Kumnick out of her smoldering home at 10520 Hayden Ave. on Thursday morning, then put out the fire. She suffered second-degree burns, said Pasco Fire Rescue. Temperatures inside may have reached 300 degrees, said Pasco Fire Rescue, and investigators think an electrical short started the fire in a home office or den. Smoke billowed and heat scorched the inside of the home, but on the outside no one realized what was happening until black smoke poured from vents.

SAN ANTONIO

Blowout injures Spring Hill woman

Her rear tire blew out and Amanda Mitchell's car careened off narrow, winding Prospect Road in San Antonio and slammed into a wall of trees midday Friday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. It took emergency workers nearly an hour to cut the 21-year-old Spring Hill resident from her car, a 1991 Nissan sedan. Mitchell was flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. Her condition is not known, but Trooper Michael Meier said her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Correction

The New Port Richey Elks Lodge's Sizzling Summer Dinner Dance will be held Friday, with dinner from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and dancing from 7 to 10 p.m. Due to incorrect information provided by the group, a different date was published this week.

[Last modified August 10, 2007, 22:58:02]