Injuries Climb After Car Plows Into Ybor City Bar, 4 Dead: Tampa Police

TAMPA, FL — The victim count after a speeding driver slammed into a busy Ybor City bar early Saturday morning after he was chased by law enforcement trying to pull him over has increased, according to a Tampa Police Department news release. (Watch helicopter and CCTV footage of the chase below.)

Four people were killed after 22-year-old Silas Sampson crashed into the outdoor patio of Bradley’s on 7th at 1510 E. 7th Ave., just before 1 a.m., police said. Thirteen people were injured, ranging from life-threatening injuries to minor injuries.

Investigators initially there were 11 injured in the crash but later learned that two victims brought themselves to a local hospital.

The victims’ names will be released after their next of kin are notified.

As of Saturday afternoon, two victims were in critical condition, two had been discharged from the hospital, two were treated at the scene of the crash and seven were in stable condition, police said.

Sampson was charged with four counts of aggravated fleeing to elude resulting in serious bodily injury and four counts of vehicular homicide - leaving the scene, Hillsborough County court records show.

The TPD air service unit spotted a driver, later identified as Sampson, driving recklessly and speeding on Interstate 275 around 12:40 a.m.

The same car had been seen street racing on Hillsborough Avenue near 22nd Street earlier that night, police said.

When Sampson got off I-275 at Doyle Carlton Drive, the police helicopter continued to follow him, and TPD officers and the Florida Highway Patrol found him in the area of Palm Avenue and Nebraska Avenue around 12:45 a.m.

State troopers followed Sampson as he drove and attempted an unsuccessful PIT maneuver to try to stop him as he sped toward Nebraska Avenue, continuing east on 7th Avenue, police said.

During the PIT maneuver, troopers “made intentional physical contact with the fleeing vehicle in an attempt to terminate the pursuit and the active threat,” FHP said in a separate news release.

Troopers stopped chasing after him as he approached 7th Avenue, police said. Sampson continued speeding down Ybor City’s major artery, lost control, and crashed into the bar, hitting more than a dozen people outside it.

Police helicopter videos and CCTV footage provided by police shows that troopers ended the chase less than a minute before the crash.

Watch the video footage below:

Any witnesses to the crash are asked to contact the Florida Highway Patrol, the lead investigators for the incident, by calling *FHP (*347).

See Also:

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