Florida Highway Patrol: Pasco crash kills motorcyclist, 19

TRINITY

Motorcyclist, 19, killed in collision on STate Road 54

A 74-year-old driver hit and killed a 19-year-old motorcyclist Sunday on State Road 54, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Milagros Beda Coulmas, 74, was driving a 2003 Toyota Matrix east on the road about noon, according to troopers. She approached the intersection with Little Road.

At the same time, Aaron Scott Barnhouse, 19, was riding a 2002 KTM motorcycle westbound. Both drivers lived in New Port Richey.

Coulmas turned left at the intersection into Barnhouse's path, the agency reported.

The vehicles collided, with Barnhouse's motorcycle crashing into the right side of the car. Barnhouse died from his injuries at the scene, according to the FHP.

Barnhouse worked in a vape shop but was known locally for his interest in motorcycles and cars, said Phillip Smith, 17.

Smith said he met Barnhouse this year at one of the car meets he hosted weekly, and the two became friends.

"He was the person to make you happy or always be there for you, no matter what," he said.

Charges are pending for Coulmas, the agency reported.

BROOKSVILLE

Body recovered from river still unidentified

Authorities found a man's body in the Withlacoochee River on Saturday evening and are working to identify the person, deputies reported.

About 4:30 p.m., a man jumped from a bridge at Lake Lindsey Road, a witness told the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The agency's marine unit and Sumter County deputies responded and searched for the man.

The Sumter County Sheriff's Dive Team found a body before 9 p.m. and took it to the Medical Examiner's Office in Leesburg.

Stay with tampabay.com for updates.

LAKE WORTH

Plane crash leaves both passengers dead

Florida authorities say two people died after a twin engine plane crashed in a South Florida park and caught fire.

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office said the accident occurred on Sunday morning near an airport located in south Palm Beach County.

Albert Borroto, a spokesman for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, told reporters that the plane was "engulfed in flames" when firefighters arrived on the scene. Borroto said no one in the plane survived.

The Palm Beach Post reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane had departed from Key West. The crashed plane was a Cessna C340, according to the FAA.

Luz Rodriguez told the newspaper she saw the plane before it crashed. She said that she ran to the plane with two other men, but the flames were too intense to reach the people inside.

DAYTONA BEACH

Authorities investigate 2 rapes on beaches

Authorities are investigating two rapes that occurred on northeast Florida beaches.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has not ruled out the two attacks being committed by the same suspect.

The latest incident was reported early Saturday morning. The previous rape happened about 6 miles south just before sunrise on Aug. 31.

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Authorities said that both women were struck violently and suffered severe "facial trauma."

In the most recent attack, the victim was walking down a road when she encountered her attacker. The two headed toward the beach after the woman agreed to have sex with the man in exchange for money, according to the Sheriff's Office.

But Chitwood said after they were away from the street lights, the suspect beat "the living crap out of her" and then raped her.

LONGWOOD

Pedestrian struck
and killed by train

A Florida man walking his bicycle in between train tracks was struck and killed by an Amtrak train.

Authorities said that 53-year-old Mane Yee was killed Sunday morning in Seminole County.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the train operator used his horn to warn Yee, but that Yee failed to get out of the way.

Authorities issued a statement saying none of the approximately 100 passengers on the train were hurt.

The Highway Patrol says that the crash remains under investigation.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH

British sailors visit bars during stopover

British sailors flocked into northeast Florida beachside bars and restaurants after a British aircraft carrier docked at a United States naval station.

The Florida Times-Union reports that the HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at Naval Station Mayport on Wednesday.

The newspaper reported some bars and restaurants were unprepared for the hundreds of sailors who spread out to several beach cities.

Keith Doherty, a general manager at Lynch's Irish Pub in Jacksonville Beach joked to the newspaper that "we need a modern day Paul Revere to let us know that the British are coming."

The Jacksonville Beach Police Department said six British sailors were taken into custody on mostly drunk and disorderly charges, and three of them were also charged with resisting arrest. Sgt. Larry Smith said the problem was that sailors were getting in fights with each other.

Times staff and wires