Wingnut
Footballguy
This story is insane...its all over the local news.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/police-girl-5-dies-after-father-throws-her-from-sunshine-skyway-approach/2212878
Just after midnight, a St. Petersburg Florida Police officer was driving home, headed south toward the Sunshine Skyway, when a Chrysler PT Cruiser passed him going an estimated 100 mph near the Bayway exit.
The officer caught up with the car near the Interstate 275 Maximo Park exit, where the driver braked hard and stopped before continuing south.
The driver, later identified as John Nicholas Jonchuck Jr., 25, of Tampa, stopped again near the top of the ####(Richard) Misener Bridge on the Skyway approach. The officer, a 36-year-old who joined the force in 2009, stopped about a car length behind the Chrysler. Jonchuck then walked toward the officer, prompting the officer to draw his weapon.
The officer said Jonchuck said something he couldn't make out, went to the passenger side of the vehicle and grabbed the girl, later identified as his daughter, Phoebe Jonchuck, 5. He lifted her under her arms with her face pressed to his chest, walked to the edge of the bridge and dropped her to the water 62 feet below.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Tony Holloway said it was unclear at the time whether Phoebe was alive when dropped from the bridge, although the officer at the scene said he thought he heard her scream.
"I've been doing this job for 29 years," Holloway said, "and I don't even know what was going through this guy's mind."
The officer immediately went to the side of the bridge to try to locate the girl. He descended a ladder to a platform closer to the water. Jonchuck got back in his car and drove south over the Skyway.
St. Petersburg officers spotted him five minutes later across the Skyway and followed him without activating their pursuit lights. Eventually, Jonchuck turned on his blinker, made a U-turn and drove the wrong way on I-75, heading directly at the police.
Manatee sheriff's deputies dropped stop sticks to puncture Jonchuck's tires. They stopped and approached his car, but he declined to speak or step out. They broke the car's windows using a baton, and Jonchuck was taken to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office for questioning.
A search for the girl began immediately, as southbound lanes of I-275 were closed. The Coast Guard assisted.
The Eckerd College Search and Rescue team found the girl about a half-mile east of where she was thrown into the water, police said. They tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead after she was taken to the hospital sometime before 3:20 a.m.
"Seeing that it is a deliberate act is kind of what sticks out," said Ryan Dilkey, coordinator for Eckerd's search team. "It is terribly unfortunate. It adds to the tragedy."
Save the posty references.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/police-girl-5-dies-after-father-throws-her-from-sunshine-skyway-approach/2212878
Just after midnight, a St. Petersburg Florida Police officer was driving home, headed south toward the Sunshine Skyway, when a Chrysler PT Cruiser passed him going an estimated 100 mph near the Bayway exit.
The officer caught up with the car near the Interstate 275 Maximo Park exit, where the driver braked hard and stopped before continuing south.
The driver, later identified as John Nicholas Jonchuck Jr., 25, of Tampa, stopped again near the top of the ####(Richard) Misener Bridge on the Skyway approach. The officer, a 36-year-old who joined the force in 2009, stopped about a car length behind the Chrysler. Jonchuck then walked toward the officer, prompting the officer to draw his weapon.
The officer said Jonchuck said something he couldn't make out, went to the passenger side of the vehicle and grabbed the girl, later identified as his daughter, Phoebe Jonchuck, 5. He lifted her under her arms with her face pressed to his chest, walked to the edge of the bridge and dropped her to the water 62 feet below.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Tony Holloway said it was unclear at the time whether Phoebe was alive when dropped from the bridge, although the officer at the scene said he thought he heard her scream.
"I've been doing this job for 29 years," Holloway said, "and I don't even know what was going through this guy's mind."
The officer immediately went to the side of the bridge to try to locate the girl. He descended a ladder to a platform closer to the water. Jonchuck got back in his car and drove south over the Skyway.
St. Petersburg officers spotted him five minutes later across the Skyway and followed him without activating their pursuit lights. Eventually, Jonchuck turned on his blinker, made a U-turn and drove the wrong way on I-75, heading directly at the police.
Manatee sheriff's deputies dropped stop sticks to puncture Jonchuck's tires. They stopped and approached his car, but he declined to speak or step out. They broke the car's windows using a baton, and Jonchuck was taken to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office for questioning.
A search for the girl began immediately, as southbound lanes of I-275 were closed. The Coast Guard assisted.
The Eckerd College Search and Rescue team found the girl about a half-mile east of where she was thrown into the water, police said. They tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead after she was taken to the hospital sometime before 3:20 a.m.
"Seeing that it is a deliberate act is kind of what sticks out," said Ryan Dilkey, coordinator for Eckerd's search team. "It is terribly unfortunate. It adds to the tragedy."
Save the posty references.
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