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Tampa police: Street racer charged in fatal January crash

 
Jeff Desange, 19, was arrested Thursday on felony charges of reckless driving with serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide.  He was released from county jail Friday on $25,000 bond. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
Jeff Desange, 19, was arrested Thursday on felony charges of reckless driving with serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide. He was released from county jail Friday on $25,000 bond. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
Published March 23, 2018

TAMPA — After a nearly three month-long search, Tampa police say they've arrested the driver responsible for a fatal hit-and-run crash sparked by an apparent drag race on a busy East Tampa thoroughfare.

Investigators said Jeff Desange, 19, was behind the wheel of a red Ford Mustang on Jan. 5 when he crashed into a BMW he was racing on N 40th Street.

Police said his apparent challenger, Jorey G. Christophe, 28, of Tampa, died in the fiery crash and a male passenger suffered injuries when he was partially ejected from the vehicle.

Officers arrived at Desange's Garrison Street apartment Thursday night to arrest him on felony charges of reckless driving with serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide, along with a charge of leaving a crash scene.

He was released from county jail Friday on $25,000 bond.

Witnesses said Desange and Christophe's raced along 40th Street between 21st Avenue and Lake Avenue. Desange was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic near Columbus Drive when he attempted to squeeze his sports car between two vehicles, a jail record said.

Desange lost control of the Mustang and collided with a 2001 Saturn but continued driving, a jail record said. When Desange attempted to turn on Lake Avenue, his Mustang sideswiped the competing BMW, police said.

The collision forced the BMW into a metal utility pole, where it burst into flames, records said.