Passenger killed in escape attempt

He was thrown from a Jeep that flipped while trying to get away from a traffic stop by police.

By EMILY NIPPS, Times Staff Writer
Published August 26, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Daniel Wallace] Tampa Police Major George McNamara, discusses the crash scene on Saturday where a passenger of a yellow Jeep Wrangler was killed attempting to flee Tampa Police.

TAMPA - A traffic stop turned deadly in an instant Saturday after police tried to pull over a Jeep Wrangler on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Police say the Jeep sped away, crashing into a pole and ejecting a back-seat passenger, who died.

Two police officers, who were in plainclothes and driving a white Ford Expedition, saw the yellow Jeep driving erratically just before 4:30 p.m., said Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis.

They ran a check on the Jeep's license tag number, which was registered to a black sport utility vehicle. As soon as the officers flipped on their lights to pull the Jeep over, it took off, Davis said.

What happened next is under investigation, but it appears the Jeep lost control as it headed east on Martin Luther King, then spun before the back end of the Jeep hit a bus stop pole at N 29th Street. A man was ejected out of the back of the jeep and into the street. He was transported to Tampa General, where he was pronounced dead.

The Jeep's driver and other passenger also were taken to Tampa General, where they were placed under arrest. Charges are pending for the two men, Davis said. None of the men, all adults, were identified late Saturday.

Davis said it was too early to say that the officers' attempt to pull over the Jeep amounted to a pursuit or a chase, but that appeared unlikely.

"From what I understand, there wasn't even time for the officers to accelerate," Davis said. "This all happened in a matter of seconds."

For most of early Saturday evening, police blocked off part of Martin Luther King as investigators searched for information on the crash. Neighbors stood just outside of the police tape, gawking at the crashed Jeep, a pile of clothing on the ground and a wheel and mailbox in the Jeep's wake.

Brittany Johnson, 17, said she saw the scene shortly after the crash. Two white males were handcuffed after they climbed out of the Jeep, she said, and a black man was sprawled in the street.

"There was a lady standing on the street screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God,' " she said. "I think it was the (man's) mama."

Davis declined to release the names of the officers involved or say whether they would be placed on leave during the investigation. The two were just finishing their shift when the accident happened, she said, and were about to head into a four-day break.

Emily Nipps can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or nipps@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 25, 2007, 23:02:22]