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Tag: Holmes Beach car accident

High-speed chase ends on tennis court

High-speed chase ends on tennis court

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – A high-speed chase ended with a suspect being trapped in chain link fencing on a Gulf Drive tennis court, resulting in six criminal charges.

Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said the Aug. 21 incident began when suspect Dominic Garcia, 24, allegedly stole a vehicle in Palmetto before going to a Bradenton residence where he is suspected of beating a woman before leaving and making a wrong turn on Manatee Avenue that took him to Anna Maria Island.

“He was trying to go to Melbourne,” Tokajer said.

High-speed chase ends on tennis court
Garcia

In Holmes Beach, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brett Getman spotted the stolen black Ford Expedition and got behind Garcia. That’s when Tokajer said Garcia hit the gas, getting up to an estimated 80 mph before missing a curve on Gulf Drive that sent the vehicle straight into a picket fence and two chain link fences, one of which wrapped around the front end of the vehicle, stopping it on a tennis court at the Martinique condominium complex.

Tokajer said no injuries were reported.

Garcia is charged with domestic battery, battery on a person 65 years of age or older, operation of a motor vehicle without a valid license, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage and grand theft of a motor vehicle. He was placed in custody at the Manatee County Jail.

Pedestrians struck while crossing street

Pedestrians struck while crossing street

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – The intersection of Gulf Drive and Marina Drive in Holmes Beach was temporarily closed May 12 after two female pedestrians were struck by a truck while crossing the street in a marked crosswalk. The driver, Michael Ritchie of Bradenton, told police he had the green light and did not see the women as he was turning left from southbound Marina Drive onto southbound Gulf Drive.

“It’s important for motorists to understand that they must yield to pedestrians even if the light is green, as it was in this case,” Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said. “The only time a person turning left has the right of way over pedestrians is when they have a green left-turn arrow. There is no arrow at this intersection, so drivers always need to be alert when turning.”

The two women, identified as Miriam and Deborah Trotter, both sustained injuries. While D. Trotter was released from HCA Blake Medical Center the same day, M. Trotter suffered critical injuries and remains on life support at press time for The Sun.

Ritchie was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian.