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Letter to the editor

As chase tears along I-275, city streets, one motorist is killed

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN, Times Staff Writer
Published November 20, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT William Watson, who is charged with vehicular homicide, is also accused of entering two homes.

ST. PETERSBURG - William Watson sped away from a state trooper on I-275 Sunday afternoon before turning off the interstate and smashing his Chevrolet sedan into another car on 34th Street N, killing the driver, authorities said.

Watson jumped out of his car and ducked into two houses as he fled, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He was arrested on numerous charges, including vehicular homicide.

The Florida Highway Patrol was still trying to notify the family of the man Watson is accused of killing, and declined to release his name Monday. Arrest affidavits identify the victim as Donald Dillard, 51.

Watson, 25, has a criminal record that includes arrests on charges of battery, fraud and cocaine possession. His driver's license had been suspended since 2003 for failing to pay a traffic fine, records show.

When he was arrested Sunday, authorities found a small amount of marijuana on him, they said.

A trooper first saw Watson on Sunday afternoon speeding south on I-275, according to Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins. Coggins said the trooper followed Watson's Chevrolet Lumina as it exited the interstate at 54th Avenue N and sped south along 34th Street.

At 36th Avenue N, Watson rammed into another Chevrolet driven by Dillard, who was trying to make a left turn from the northbound lanes of 34th Street, the patrol said.

Watson ran away. His first stop: a house in the 2900 block of 27th Avenue N. He rushed through an open rear door, pushed a man who was inside, then struggled with him before running outside, authorities said.

He then entered another house on the same block by walking in through an open front door. He begged the residents for permission to use the phone, according to an arrest affidavit. They refused.

Police were approaching, and Watson was minutes from being arrested. Before running outside and jumping a fence in a final, doomed attempt to get away, he asked the residents to call his mother.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 727 893-8472.

[Last modified November 20, 2007, 00:04:58]