By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, August 26, 2010
TAMPA — An impaired driver hit a pedestrian walking along the side of the road Wednesday night, police say.
Tampa police arrested Richard Anthony Stephens, 47, on a charge of DUI with serious bodily injury.
The victim, Camena Wiltshire, 17, is expected to recover.
Police said that at about 10 p.m., Wiltshire and a friend were walking south on 17th Street, near the edge of the road.
Stephens was driving a 1993 Toyota Camry northbound, and hit Wiltshire at 8220 N 17th St., just a few blocks from where she lives, police said. She was thrown against the windshield.
Wiltshire was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, police say.
Police conducted a sobriety test on Stephens, of 8703 N Ruth Place in Tampa, which indicated he was impaired. He was taken to jail, where police determined his blood-alcohol level was 0.113 percent in one test and 0.111 in the second. The state presumes impairment at 0.08.
Police said Stephens works for the Tampa Public Works Department. In jail logs, his occupation is listed as "construction." He was not working at the time of the crash, police say.
His bail was set at $2,000.