By Ron Matus, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, September 4, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG –– The family of a St. Petersburg man killed after Manatee County sheriff's deputies chased the driver of a stolen vehicle expressed outrage Saturday over a high-speed pursuit they said was unnecessary.
Gary Lane Smith, 56, was killed about 10 p.m. Friday when the 16-year-old driver of a stolen Lexus sport utility vehicle ran the red light at Fifth Avenue S and 31st Street S and slammed into his 1997 Infiniti, police said.
According to St. Petersburg police, Manatee County sheriff's deputies chased the Lexus from Bradenton because they believed it was connected to a robbery.
"Why? Why? All the way cross the (Sunshine) Skyway?" Minnie Morand, 54, Smith's former partner, said, crying. "It was wrong. They should have backed off. Look at what they did."
"Yeah they got their man, but at what cost did they get their man?" said Smith's son, Gary Morand, 28. "We lost a father. We lost a family member."
Manatee deputies alerted St. Petersburg police during the chase, and a city officer put down tire-puncturing "stop sticks" on northbound Interstate 275. The device appeared to clip the SUV's left tires, but it kept going with Manatee deputies in pursuit. The driver exited 1-275 at 31st Street S at a high rate of speed, at which point Manatee deputies pulled off the pursuit.
The driver of the Lexus, Ramesse N. Harris, 16, tried to run away after the crash, police said. After being caught by St. Petersburg police, he was transported to Bayfront Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, then taken to the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center.
St. Petersburg police charged Harris with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash involving death and aggravated fleeing and eluding involving a death. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office charged him with grand theft auto, aggravated fleeing and eluding and no valid driver's license.
Harris' arrest record includes four previous vehicle-theft cases, state records show. At age 13, Harris was charged with grand theft auto and obstructing police in connection with a July 2007 incident in Manatee County. He was also charged with vehicle theft a second time in 2007 and twice in 2009.
It was unclear Saturday how most of the criminal cases against Harris were resolved. He has more than a dozen arrests on charges that include drug possession, burglary, probation violation and driving without a license.
Smith's nephew, Marc Moran, 41, said he thinks his uncle was driving home from work when he was killed. Moran said his uncle was a handyman who worked on and off during the past few years, but recently landed a job as a painter.
"He was the type of guy who liked to keep busy" and could fix anything: cars, clogged pipes, TVs on the fritz, Moran said. "He liked to work."
Smith's mother, Doretha Smith, 85, said Smith, of Arlington Avenue North, and his nephew were her primary caretakers. Smith visited her often in her Arlington Arbor apartment to take her shopping at Publix and CVS or to the doctor's office.
"Such a senseless death," she said.
Smith's son said the St. Petersburg Police Department bears some responsibility. He referenced Mayor Bill Foster's recent decision to back a policy that gives police more flexibility to pursue high-speed chases.
"The St. Petersburg Police Department should not have allowed Manatee to come over in their jurisdiction and chase," he said. "You have an inexperienced driver driving at a high rate of speed. What do you think is going to happen?"
Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report.