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Teens charged in prank that turned deadly

A Volusia County police officer was killed in the resulting accident.

By STEPHANIE GARRY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 17, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Tyler Jenkins, 19, of St. Petersburg was charged with manslaughter. Katie Jo Peller, 19, of Deltona was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

What started as a prank has ended with three teens charged with contributing to the death of a Volusia County police officer.

Two were arrested in St. Petersburg on Tuesday night after the Florida Highway Patrol concluded the prank last year contributed to a crash that killed the officer. Troopers say three teenagers were involved in putting a plastic chair on Interstate 4 in Volusia County.

Tyler Jenkins, 19, of 835 35th Ave. N was charged with manslaughter, and Katie Jo Peller, 19, of Deltona was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

Jenkins was being held in the Pinellas County Jail on $25,000 bail Wednesday, and Peller was being held on $5,000 bail.

Eric Benjamin Biggs, 18, of Deltona, was already in the Volusia County Juvenile Assessment Center. He was also charged with being an accessory, and has been placed on house arrest.

The incident happened early on July 14. Longwood police Sgt. Karl Strohsal was eastbound in an unmarked police car on I-4 when he swerved to avoid the chair and smashed into the guardrail, said Sgt. Herb Stewartson of the Longwood police.

As Strohsal, 58, crossed the dark road for the safety of the median, a 2005 Pontiac Vibe driven by Dwayne Love, then 19, of Orlando smashed into his car, killing him, said Kim Miller, a Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

A blood sample from Love showed an alcohol reading above the level at which someone is presumed to be impaired under state law, Miller said. Love was charged with driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, but not manslaughter because investigators couldn't prove he caused the death, Miller said.

Aninvestigation concluded that Jenkins had intentionally left the chair in the road to cause trouble, and that Peller and Biggs had participated, Miller said.

St. Petersburg police helped make the arrests, first visiting Jenkins' house. Relatives told them to try the Taco Bell at 3600 FourthSt. N, where the two teenagers worked. Police arrested Peller there, and Jenkins later turned himself in at the jail, Miller said.

"Sgt. Strohsal was a member of our family," Stewartson said, adding that Strohsal had been with the department since 1989. "This is one of those things that helps us with closure."

[Last modified January 17, 2008, 01:11:18]