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Pinellas commissioner visits site of crash where three teens died in a submerged car (w/video)

 
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch recorded a video of his visit to the crash site.
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch recorded a video of his visit to the crash site.
Published May 3, 2016

The deaths of three teen girls killed inside a stolen car as it sank into the depths of a muddy pond March 31 hit close to home for Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.

Last August, three of his cousins were killed in a wreck in DeSoto County when a pickup struck their car as they returned to St. Petersburg from a religious convention in Fort Pierce.

When the accusations against the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office escalated last week, with critics saying that deputies let the girls die and calling for an independent investigation, Welch decided to visit the pond Friday.

"I just wanted to go by myself intentionally," he said Monday, adding that he wanted to "bring an unbiased voice" to the ongoing public rhetoric regarding the crash. "As a countywide elected official, I was compelled to advance the conversation."

The commissioner drove to the Royal Palm North Cemetery off Gandy Boulevard, put on a pair of tall rubber boots and trekked to the tangled weeds and dark water.

Afterward, on his Facebook page, he posted a video and several photos of the thick vegetation circling the pond. In the nearly 2-minute video, Welch recorded himself as he trudged to the edge of the murky water "to get a sense of the mud and accessibility," he said in the clip.

He plunged one foot in. "I'm already sinking," he said. "I'm not going to venture any further out."

Moments later, the video shows Welch struggling to remove his boot from the muck. Before ending the video, he says, "I think I've seen what I need to see."

On his Facebook page, he wrote: "I thought that I would visit the accident site and see for myself if the water was accessible. In my view, it is not. The video below shows me sinking into the muck on my first step. I am open to any other information or evidence, but unsupported rhetoric and accusations will not move us forward, nor heal the destructive trends that are at work in our community. The only way to move forward is together, and on a foundation of truth and justice — for all."

In an interview Monday, Welch said the water conditions were worse than he expected. His boot was ankle-deep in muck.

"Just being there and seeing it and seeing the road and seeing clearly how they came off the road," he said, "really cleared up for me what happened."

By Monday afternoon, his post had been shared on Facebook more than 200 times.

Michele Whitfield, an attorney representing two of the girls' families, said days after the crash that there are inconsistencies in the Sheriff's Office account. She could not be reached for comment Monday.

According to Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri's statements and his agency's reports, the girls — Laniya Miller, 15, Ashaunti Butler, 15, and Dominique Battle, 16 — had asked a 36-year-old man for a ride to Childs Park on the night of March 30. When he stopped at a Walmart in St. Petersburg, leaving the Honda Accord running, the teens drove off in the car, records show.

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About 3:30 a.m. March 31, a sheriff's sergeant saw the Honda with its headlights off as it headed east on Sunset Point Road in Clearwater, west of U.S. 19. The sergeant tried to stop the car, but it continued south.

Another Pinellas sergeant spotted the car later and determined it was stolen in St. Petersburg. Deputies followed the car from a distance. Under Sheriff's Office policy, deputies cannot pursue stolen cars.

The Honda eventually headed toward the cemetery, a dead end. At a sharp bend in the road about 4 a.m., the car stayed on a straight course and went into a pond. Gualtieri said a few deputies tried to reach the car, but couldn't because of the muddy conditions. The girls didn't make it out.

Welch said he has had conversations with other officials, including Gualtieri and St. Petersburg police Chief Tony Holloway, regarding solutions to the "epidemic" of teens stealing cars. That might include stronger penalties.

"If there's no deterrent, no consequence," he said, "then I think you see what we're seeing right now."

Contact Laura C. Morel at lmorel@tampabay.com. Follow @lauracmorel.