New details have emerged regarding the events leading up to a car accident that killed a Wesley Chapel man on June 5.
According to the report from the Tampa Police Department (TPD), just before the fatal crash, the late William Gallagher, 19, of the Country Walk community of Wesley Chapel, left the K-Bar Ranch pool where he and some friends were congregating with two passengers — 16-year-old Charles Trimbl of Tampa and 21-year-old Camron Davis, also of Wesley Chapel.
The trio traveled from K-Bar to the Shell station at the intersection of Cross Creek Blvd. and Kinnan St. in a grey 1998 Honda Accord and purchased beer and cigarettes. They never made it back to the pool.
When his car flipped after hitting a curb, Gallagher was partially ejected and pinned underneath the vehicle, and was later pronounced dead at the scene. His two passengers could not confirm whether or not he was wearing a seat belt. Davis fled the scene, saying he couldn’t be caught there because “he was joining the military.” He later lied to TPD in an initial phone interview, denying having been involved in the accident.
In a follow-up investigative interview, after being told by police that he was seen on surveillance cameras purchasing beer at the time the trio was said to be at the Shell station, Davis admitted to being involved in the accident, saying that he fled for fear of being arrested for “something.”
Friends of Gallagher’s told TPD that he had been sending some strange text messages that night and seemed depressed about some personal issues, but none of the witnesses cited that as a reason for the fatal accident. A toxicology report on the deceased is still pending. This accident marked the twelfth traffic fatality for the City of Tampa this year and the 80th for Hillsborough County.
No comment yet, add your voice below!