Sgt. Rod Reder of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office said a 38-year-old man was driving a Ford Mustang west on Waters Avenue near Hanley Road when traffic ahead of him stopped. He was unable to stop in time and instead swerved left through the median and into the eastbound lanes of Waters, where he was broadsided by a Chevy Suburban.

He was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected by the impact. He died at the scene. The man's name was not released Wednesday night pending notification of his family.

Man walks across road, is hit, killed by truck

RIVERVIEW -- A man was killed Wednesday morning after talking to a driver waiting behind a school bus on County Road 672.

About 7 a.m. Wednesday, the bus stopped in the westbound lanes of CR 672 1 mile east of Balm Boyette Road, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Robert Earl Wilkerson of Balm walked into the road to talk to a friend whose car was stopped behind the bus. When the bus started to pull away, Wilkerson turned and walked across the eastbound lanes, into the path of a Ford pickup driven by Mark Wayne Hutson of Temple Terrace, officials said.

Hutson tried to swerve but hit Wilkerson with the right front of his truck. Wilkerson died at the scene. No charges were filed.

Different suspects sought in two Lexus carjackings

TAMPA -- Police were on alert Wednesday after two Lexuses were carjacked in the middle of the day in South Tampa.

The first happened about 9:30 a.m. in front of the Publix grocery store at S Dale Mabry and Neptune Avenue. A man approached a Lexus, pointed a gun and ordered the occupants of the car out. He got in and drove off, injuring no one.

A few hours later at 2:30 p.m., the same scenario played out in the parking lot of Westshore Mall. Tampa police said the incidents sound similar, but descriptions of the suspect were so varied that the robberies were likely committed by different men.

Man found dead in car near Lake Maggiore

ST. PETERSBURG -- A man was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound Tuesday evening in a rental car in an alley near Lake Maggiore. Police were investigating the death as a homicide.

The man's body was found shortly before 6:30 p.m. off 27th Avenue S and 20th Street, about a block from the lake's northern shore, police said. The rental car was parked in an alley. A neighbor became suspicious and called police.

The man's body was taken to the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Crime-scene technicians looked through the car and the surrounding area for evidence.

The man's name wasn't released pending notification of his family. He was described only as a black man in his 20s.

Woman accidentally run over is identified

ST. PETE BEACH -- Police have identified the 90-year-old woman who was accidentally run over by her son Monday as Annie Hovanec.

Hovanec's son, Irvin, 67, backed his car over his mother after she fell down behind it, said Sgt. Al Ostoits of the St. Pete Beach Police Department.

The Hovanecs, who live together at 3919 Belle Vista Drive E, were on their way to play bingo when the accident occurred, Ostoits said. Irvin Hovanec started the car, which was parked inside the garage. His mother was waiting in the driveway for him to back out.

Police had not determined Tuesday what caused Mrs. Hovanec to fall.

The incident was still under investigation Tuesday. No charges have been filed.

Lt. Gov. Brogan praises mentoring programs

LARGO -- With its Enterprise Village serving as the backdrop, the Gus Stavros Institute, along with the Pinellas County Schools' Office of Community Involvement, hosted Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan on Tuesday morning.

The event, a pep rally of sorts, honored businesses and organizations participating in the Governor's Mentoring Initiative's Corporate Honor Roll, a program started in August of last year that encourages executives from Florida businesses to become mentors for public schools.

Brogan lauded Pinellas for the successes of its mentors and volunteers with the 15-year-old Pinellas County Schools' Corporate/Community Volunteer Program.

Mentally ill inmates may get better care

The Pinellas County Jail was the scene of 92 suicide attempts in 1998 -- a statistic that helped lead county commissioners, health practitioners and members of the law enforcement community to create a task force to address the problem.

Two years later, the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Mental Health has proposed a list of recommendations -- some quick and easy, others more involved -- that it hopes will improve mental health care throughout Pinellas County, especially in the criminal justice system.

"You had a lot of partners on the task force," said Sheriff Everett Rice, a member. "Everybody has an interest in fixing this problem. At the same time, it's not any individual agency's responsibility."

Jail statistics from 1998 show that an average of 361 inmates a month were on psychiatric medications, about 15 percent of the jail population. That does not include mentally ill inmates who refused, for one reason or another, to take medication.

One of the task force's premises: A jail stay is often not the best option for a mentally ill inmate, and, in fact, the experience can exacerbate that person's health problems.

Yet studies indicate that mentally ill inmates often spend far more time in the Pinellas County Jail than others, said Martha Lenderman, a mental health consultant to the county.

Boy, 16, suspended in bomb threats

EAST LAKE -- East Lake High School officials have suspended a 16-year-old boy who they say made several bomb threats to the high school this year.

Principal Richard Misenti has recommended the student be expelled and the matter has been turned over to the state attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution.

"This has become a significant problem of late," Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said. "Enough's enough. This just can't be tolerated. That's all there is to it."

If an investigation shows the student made the threats, he will face criminal charges, Bartlett said.

Making a false report about planting a bomb or explosive is a second-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Depending on whether the student has had prior brushes with the law, Bartlett said, the state attorney's office could seek to try him as an adult.

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