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Pickup Hits 2, Killing 1, In Plant City Hit-And-Run

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By GEORGE WILKENS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 18, 2008

Updated: 06/19/2008 11:18 am

PLANT CITY - One man was crushed to death and another injured when the driver of a pickup rolled over them and then fled Tuesday evening, police said.

The accident, which authorities say may have started because of gang activity, happened in front of Burchwood Park, just west of the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds.

Plant City police had not released the victims' names late Tuesday. Relatives and friends among the 50 or so people who congregated at the scene identified the dead man as Jose Manuel Gonzalez, 20. His friend, taken to a hospital with injuries described as not life-threatening, was identified by them as Sergio Calderon, 16.

Witnesses to the 4 p.m. incident in the 3200 block of West Reynolds Street gave differing accounts of what they say happened. Police say they have put together this preliminary account:

The young men were standing on the pavement of Drake Street, talking to the occupant of an idling green Ford F-150 pickup. A red van approached from the opposite direction, and the occupant flashed a gun. Apparently panicked and trying to flee, the pickup driver accelerated but ran over both men.

"There is nothing to indicate shots were fired," said police Sgt. Jim Schultz, one of more than a dozen Plant City police officers at the scene. Asked if the incident was gang-related, Shultz said, "It's too early to tell, but it's very likely it is."

Police issued an alert for the pickup.

Bernard Forbes, who lives across from the park, said he ran to the scene after seeing the rear tire of the pickup roll over the fatally injured man.

"I ran over to assist him. There was nothing I could do," said the 20-year-old, who called 911.

Edward Grayer, who witnessed the incident from the porch of his home, said the pickup driver saw what he had done. "He got out and looked. He ran back to his truck, got in and hauled tail," he said.

Joseph Duberry, 18, who described the pickup driver as a man in his late 20s, said the cab also was occupied by what appeared to be a 12- or 13-year-old child.

Two dozen friends and relatives of the victims gathered in the shade of a tree on the edge of Drake Street, gazing at the covered body about 25 feet beyond yellow crime scene tape.

Among the mourners was Vanessa Sanchez, 25, who said she and Gonzalez shared an apartment and, 18 months ago, became engaged to be married. Gonzalez had attended Plant City High School and was unemployed, she said.

She said she had just returned home when her sister called and told her Gonzalez had been run over at the park, walking distance from the couple's apartment.

Sanchez sobbed and tightly embraced her fiance's mother, Maria Carmen Gonzalez.

An autopsy is scheduled today.

Editor's note: A headline on an earlier version of this story gave incorrect information on the status of the pickup.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.

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