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Tampa Bay briefsBy Times staff and wire reports
© St. Petersburg Times, Woman, 93, fatally injured in crashDUNEDIN -- A 93-year-old Clearwater woman was fatally injured Saturday morning when a car driven by her husband ran a red light on Main Street and collided with another vehicle, the Pinellas Sheriff's Office said. Mary Tillman died at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg about five hours after the 8:29 a.m. accident. Lester Tillman, 88, of 28488 U.S. 19, was listed in critical condition at Bayfront with a broken neck and head injuries, the Sheriff's Office said. Tillman, driving a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis, was traveling east on Main when he attempted a left turn onto Virginia Street, pulling into the path of a Ford pickup truck driven by Javier Albiter, 36, of 8913 Seeley Lane, Hudson, according to a sheriff's report. Albiter, driving west on Main, had the green light, and no charges are expected against him, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Greg Tita said. He was not injured. Runaway girl's helper sentencedBARTOW -- A woman who helped a 14-year-old girl rendezvous in Greece with a man she'd met on the Internet has been sentenced to two years of house arrest. Martina Marie Crivaro, 24, gave Lindsay Shamrock a cellular phone, a plane ticket and a ride to an Orlando airport in August 1999 so the girl could get to Greece. Polk Circuit Judge Randall McDonald found Crivaro guilty Friday of interfering with parental custody, a third-degree felony, and sentenced her to house arrest at her parents' Lakeland home. Crivaro must also complete two years of probation and pay $1,400 in fines and court costs. Shamrock, of Mulberry, made her way to Greece where she met up with 35-year-old Franz Baehring, whom she'd met on the Internet. The two lived in Thessaloniki, Greece, until January, when police found the girl and her mother flew there to get her. Baehring was arrested by Greek authorities on charges of sexual assault, child abduction and exposing a minor to improper material. Toddler's death leads to chargesDAYTONA BEACH -- A church corporation and one of its day care workers have been charged with felonies in the death of a toddler who was left in a hot van for three hours this summer. Police said Zaniyah Hinson, 2, was inadvertently left in a locked van at the Abundant Life Academy of Learning day care center on Aug. 10. She was discovered there when her mother came to pick her up. Resuscitation efforts failed and she was pronounced dead at the Halifax Medical Center. The State Attorney's Office filed the manslaughter charge Friday against Abundant Life Ministries, which owns the day care center. "The corporation's being held accountable for a series of reckless acts that endangered all the children and took the life of Zaniyah Hinson," said Assistant State Attorney Phillip Havens. If the church is found guilty, the Rev. Marcus Triplett, its president, could face up to 30 years in prison. Day care worker Gail Besemer, 40, was charged with felony neglect. She was being held on $2,500 bail late Friday at the Volusia County Branch Jail. According to police reports, Besemer said she forgot to do a head count after returning 10 children from a trip to a park. She also said she did not use child safety seats for the younger of the 14 children, ages 2 to 6. The day care has not closed, despite the urging of the Florida Department of Children and Families. Triplett described Zaniyah's death as "an isolated incident." Child advocates and state legislators have vowed to tighten lax laws that govern religious day care centers in the wake of the child's death. But religious groups say regulating their centers would violate the constitutional separation of church and state. Boy, 7, injured when car slams busST. PETERSBURG -- A 7-year-old boy was in critical condition and his mother was in jail on a driving under the influence charge Saturday after their car slammed into the back of a Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus. The bus was stopped about 8:30 p.m. Friday in the eastbound curb lane of 38th Avenue N just east of 26th Street N when a 1988 Chevrolet Corsica driven by Kiara Whiteman, 29, hit it "after only a minimal amount of braking," said an incident report. "Whiteman did not see the city bus stopped in the lane in front of her," the report states. Her son, Steven Landis, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle and suffered head and internal injuries. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and then transferred to All Children's Hospital. His mother, of 5685 67th Ave. N in Pinellas Park, was held in Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. She was charged with DUI resulting in serious injury. Neither the bus driver, Jannie McDonald, nor her one passenger was injured. The investigation is continuing. Anyone who witnessed the crash or stopped at the scene to aid the victims is asked to contact Officer Michael Jockers at 551-3277. Fire damages building, leaves two homelessTAMPA -- A fire that likely started on the front porch of an old, wooden house in Ybor City burned two people out of their homes Saturday afternoon. When firefighters arrived at 3507 N 10th Avenue about 5 p.m., flames already had engulfed the front of the house, fire officials said. It was quickly brought under control. No one was injured. Catherine Clearmont, 42, stood in the street out front in her stocking feet. She lived in the apartment in the back of the house, and managed to throw a few of her belongings out the back door before fleeing. She said she had just gone to the mailbox when she heard something on the porch blow up. The resident in the front apartment, who Clearmont identified as Edgar Hart, was not home. Firefighters searched the building twice without finding anyone inside, said Capt. Carl Finney of the Tampa Fire Department. Although the cause of the blaze hadn't been determined, firefighters said a grill was left unattended on the porch shortly before the fire.
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