 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Top city official won't be charged in car accidentBy JOSH ZIMMER © St. Petersburg Times, published January 9, 2001 TAMPA -- A top city official will not be charged for leaving the scene of an accident last month in which he hit and seriously injured a 65-year-old Tampa woman, the State Attorney's Office said Monday. In clearing Wayne Brookins, the office rejected investigators' recommendation that he be charged, State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Pam Bondi said. Neither police nor the State Attorney's Office could provide the investigative report. Bondi did not specify why prosecutors declined to pursue charges. Brookins, 56, was unavailable for comment. He has been Tampa's solid waste director since the early 1990s. The victim's family decried the decision. In a written statement released by their attorney, Ricardo Roig of Tampa, they said: "Mr. Brookins' stated reason for leaving the scene, that he was not sure he had hit something, is devoid of any credibility." The accident happened Dec. 15. According to his account to police, Brookins said he was leaving his city office when he hit something while driving down Spruce Street, where the solid waste department is located. He admitted leaving the scene but told police he returned after stopping at Dale Mabry Highway and Laurel Street and noticing damage to his city car. Until arriving at the accident scene, he said, he did not know for sure what had happened. By that time, paramedics already were treating Perez, who remains in critical condition at St. Joseph's Hospital. The next day, Brookins told his boss, city Executive Officer Sam Halter, that he had been at the office to check paperwork after being off work during the week. Halter said Brookins recounted seeing the notice for a meeting of the Ybor City Development Corp. that Monday and was heading toward Ybor City to check on the placement of new garbage cans. He was driving a city vehicle at the time, police said. He was not tested for drugs and alcohol. Perez, who was going with a friend to Home Depot on Dale Mabry when she was hit, suffered two broken legs, a broken pelvis and a broken arm, Roig said. She remains on a respirator and is being fed by a tube. "The prognosis is unclear at this point," he said. Before Monday's announcement, Halter said he was ready to launch an internal investigation if Brookins was charged. Now the only possible action would be a safety review by the city's risk management agency. -- Josh Zimmer can be reached at (813) 226-3474 or zimmer@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
