Death toll after 2-plane crash climbs

By Times Wires
Published March 3, 2008

TITUSVILLE

One of the two people who initially survived a fiery two-plane collision at a Florida airpark has died, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday. Two others were killed in Saturday morning's collision at the Arthur Dunn Airpark in Titusville. Another remains in critical condition, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said. The identities of those involved in the crash had not been released Sunday afternoon. Officials with Titusville Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman and the Titusville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment Sunday. The single-engine planes involved in the crash were registered to Christen Air Inc. in Wilmington, Del., and William E. Hess of Daytona Beach, according to records. A witness provided a video to investigators, and NTSB officials will review it today, Knudson said.

TAMPA

Man in wheelchair run over, killed by pickup

Detectives are searching for a truck they say struck and killed a man in a wheelchair after running a red light Sunday afternoon.

According to Tampa police, Marcelin Azor, 64, of 1515 W Union St., was crossing W Main Street at Rome Avenue in his wheelchair just before 4 p.m. when a truck heading west ran a red light, swerved into an eastbound lane and hit him. Azor was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The truck, which police describe as an older model, dark brown Ford pickup with a tan stripe down its side, fled west on W Main Street. The truck was driven by a black man with dreadlocks, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.

DAYTONA BEACH

Two people killed Saturday at Bike Week

Authorities say two people died in motorcycle crashes in the first two days of Bike Week.

Authorities say 23-year-old Derek Montgomery Edwards, of Roanoke, Va., became the first fatality Saturday when he was thrown from his bike on a curve.

Police say 69-year-old Martha Jane Patterson, of Deland, died after she was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street Saturday. The bike's rider, 47-year-old Scott Waszak, of Orange City, received minor injuries. Police say charges are pending an investigation. Another motorcycle rider also crashed but had just minor injuries.
 

CLEARWATER 

Body found in water Saturday is identified

A man found dead Saturday in the water at the north end of Island Estates in Clearwater has been identified as Charles B. Hamilton, 64, of Clearwater.

Hamilton, who lived on a boat at slip 9 at the dock at 401 East Shore, was reported missing on Friday by his landlord.

Officers searched Hamilton's boat and nearby waterways but could not find him. On Saturday, police received a call about a body in the water. A family member identified the man as Hamilton.

The cause of death is unknown, but detectives said there were no signs of foul play, according to Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts. Results of an autopsy are pending.

Miami

Two people evacuated from cruise ship

An 88-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman were evacuated for medical reasons from a cruise ship that was 80 miles south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted the man and the woman from the Holland America cruise ship Westerdam around 9:45 p.m. Friday and landed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The man was transferred to the base hospital and the woman was transferred to a Coast Guard Falcon jet and flown to Miami, the Coast Guard said, where she was transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The names of the evacuees were not released.

[Last modified March 2, 2008, 23:17:48]