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Trucker sentenced for leaving accident
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published March 27, 2001 DADE CITY -- A 46-year-old Tampa Electric Co. truck driver accused of leaving the scene of a fatal accident in April when a motorcyclist slid into his truck pleaded no contest to the charges Monday in exchange for a year of probation. Allan John Schott of Zephyrhills was arrested April 7 after authorities said he left a Morris Bridge Road crash that killed motorcyclist Peter William Smith, 43. According to the Highway Patrol, Smith was passing cars on his 1999 Harley-Davidson in a no-passing zone on Morris Bridge Road as Schott slowed his truck to make a left turn on Mandrake Road. Smith struck the back of the truck, troopers said. The motorcycle caught fire. Schott stopped to put out the fire and tried to help Smith, then left the scene, troopers said. Schott's attorney, Robert Heyman, told Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson on Monday that Schott was driving a 14,000-pound truck and didn't know he was involved in the crash. He stopped when he saw the wreckage behind him and tried to help, then left as rescue crews tended to Smith and he felt there was nothing more he could do. Heyman said tests showed Smith had been drinking alcohol and said the Highway Patrol never ruled Schott did anything to cause the crash. "My client is totally blameless in this crash," Heyman told the judge. Smith's mother and sister both opposed Swanson's decision to withhold a ruling of guilt and sentence Schott to a year of probation and $336 in court costs. "I disagree, but what can I say?" Smith's mother, Erva, told the judge. Prosecutor Manny Garcia also objected to the plea arrangement. Heyman said his client has no prior criminal record.
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From today's Pasco Times |
