Stop signs going up where child hurt

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Residents in the neighborhood where a 7-year-old boy was seriously injured last month when he was hit by a car persuaded the City Council Monday night to put four-way stop signs in the area to slow motorists.

The stop signs will be installed on 18th Avenue at Ninth, 10th and 11th streets.

Residents in the neighborhood, two blocks south of Zephyrhills High School, complained to council members about students speeding along 18th Avenue every morning and afternoon.

The council also appointed a committee, made up of residents and city officials, to study the problem of speeding students.

Jeremy Reeves was riding his bike along 18th Avenue on the afternoon of March 27 when he was struck by a Cadillac that was driving erratically, police said. The car carried Jeremy about 100 yards before the boy fell off.

The car drove away without stopping, but five hours later, police say, 18-year-old James Tarik Bettis, a Zephyrhills High junior, turned himself in and confessed to striking Jeremy.

Jeremy, a first-grader at Woodland Elementary School, suffered a broken pelvis, a bruised spleen and numerous cuts on his body. He spent a week in the hospital and is now recovering at home.

Bettis, charged with leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury, was held Tuesday in the county jail in Land O'Lakes in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Police have increased their presence in the neighborhood in the wake of the accident.

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