TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The man accused of fleeing police and crashing into a bar patio along Ybor City’s main drag early Saturday morning was charged with additional offenses on Tuesday.
The Florida Highway Patrol charged Silas Sampson, 22, with three felony counts of fleeing to elude at high speeds with serious bodily injury and three felony counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury.
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He was previously charged with four felony counts of vehicular homicide and four felony counts of aggravated fleeing with serious bodily injury. A judge will determine whether Sampson will be held without bond ahead of his trial in a hearing on Thursday.
At 12:39 a.m. on Saturday, a Tampa Police Department helicopter began tracking Sampson’s Toyota Camry on Interstate 275 near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as it “was observed driving in a reckless and erratic manner,” prosecutors alleged in a motion for pretrial detention. Law enforcement said he was racing on the highway.
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The Camry passed two marked FHP vehicles and a marked TPD vehicle as it traveled south on Nebraska Avenue. A chase ensued at 12:45 a.m. A trooper attempted a PIT maneuver on the Camry near the intersection of 7th Avenue and Henderson Avenue, but it was unsuccessful.
The trooper ended the pursuit at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Nuccio Parkway, where the Ybor City gateway is located, “due to heavy pedestrian traffic further ahead on 7th Avenue.” The pursuing law enforcement officers lost sight of the car as it entered the entertainment district.
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About one minute after the chase began, the Camry veered into the opposite lane of traffic, drove onto the sidewalk in front of the Copper Shaker and crashed into the patio at Bradley’s on 7th. Four people died and 13 others were injured…