An article published on TheLedger.com reports that a man, a pregnant woman and an infant were killed in mid-September on U.S. 27 near Davenport. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that the infant had suffered critical injuries and was flown to Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital in Orlando, but died later in the evening. Officials investigating the accident say that the accident occurred around 6:40 in the evening when a car turning east at U.S. 27 onto Citrus Ridge Drive was struck by a van headed north on U.S. 27.
There were four people in the car, including the infant. Law enforcement officials investigating the accident had not released the names of those involved in the car accident pending the notification of family members. The pregnant woman and the baby were both ejected from the car when it was struck, and a man inside the car died in the car from his injuries. Deputies said the pregnant woman’s body was found in the ditch on the east side of U.S. 27 and the car’s driver was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with injuries described as traumatic.
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A man accused of hitting and killing a motorcyclist while driving drunk has entered a not guilty plea to DUI manslaughter charges. This article in the Sun Sentinel reports that the man has a long history of negligent behavior behind the wheel, including a hit-and-run accident, drunk driving convictions, high-speed police chases and many traffic citations. By the time the 31-year-old man was arrested in Miramar in September 2009 and charged with killing a motorcyclist while driving under influence of alcohol, there was a warrant for his arrest in connection with two DUI cases in Maryland.
The September 8, 2009, drunk driving accident resulted in two counts of DUI manslaughter, two counts of DUI property damage and one count of child neglect against the Miramar man. The man was reportedly driving his fiancé’s nine-year-old daughter to school that morning on Pembroke Road when he struck and killed a 43-year-old Davie man. According to arrest records released by Maryland prosecutors, it wasn’t the man’s first arrest for causing an accident while driving drunk.
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A recent article published in the East Volusia news discusses how the family of local businessman, motorcycle rider and charity organizer, Bruce Rossmeyer, is carrying on the family tradition of leading a charity motorcycle ride. The family said that the late Bruce Rossmeyer was especially enthusiastic about this year’s huge motorcycle ride to raise money for the children’s healthcare facility, Camp Boggy Creek. Rossmeyer’s family said that part of his enthusiasm stemmed from that fact that this year’s ride would be the 15th Annual Ride for Children. They said another reason Rossmeyer looked forward to this year’s ride was that the benefit was nearing the $4 million mark in money raised for the facility since the event began in 1994.
Camp Boggy Creek is a healthcare facility where children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses receive treatment, live and play games with other sick children at no cost to their families. This year’s Ride for Children is also the first charity ride without Mr. Rossmeyer leading the procession. He died in a motorcycle accident on July 30, 2009, in Wyoming while traveling to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D. Mr. Rossmeyer’s son and four daughters took their father’s place at the front of the parade.
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Pensacola police officers have searched a damaged GMC van in an effort to find evidence that might link it to a fatal hit-and-run pedestrian accident that occurred on Sept. 9, 2009. This Pensacola News Journal article reported that the 52-year-old victim was struck and killed while walking along Cervantes Street near H Street in Pensacola.
Pensacola police were notified about the van after a Gulf County Sheriff’s Office captain got a tip from a confidential informant. The informant had heard that a relative had asked family members to pick up a van from a Gulf Breeze tow lot because he had hit a pedestrian while driving it and did not want any possible links between them and the van. The van was towed to the lot after the driver was arrested on an unrelated charge in Santa Rosa County two days after the pedestrian accident occurred. Pensacola police found the van had damage to its hood, windshield and front with tape on the shattered windshield.
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An article published in the Daily Commercial reports that a 49-year-old Umatilla woman was struck and killed while riding her bicycle recently. The Florida Highway Patrol said that the woman was struck from behind by a 2008 Toyota that threw her from her bike. She was taken to Florida Hospital Waterman where she was pronounced dead from her injuries. Law enforcement officials investigating the accident say that charges are pending against the 55- year-old driver of the Toyota-also from Umatilla-who told police that the glare from the sun prevented her from seeing the bicyclist.
A FHP report said that both the Toyota and the bicyclist were eastbound on County Road 450 near Peru Road toward Umatilla just before 7:30 am when the car struck the bicyclist from behind with its right front fender. The FHP said that the accident was still under investigation, but they expect to file yet-undetermined charges against the driver of the Toyota.
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