{"id":272160,"date":"2025-11-09T00:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272160\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T00:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:44:13","slug":"four-killed-and-multiple-injured-after-car-crashes-into-crowded-florida-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272160\/","title":{"rendered":"Four killed and multiple injured after car crashes into crowded Florida bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

A speeding car fleeing police slammed into a crowded bar, killing four people and injuring 11 in a historic district of Tampa, Florida<\/a>, that is known for its nightlife and tourists.<\/p>\n

An air patrol unit spotted the silver sedan driving recklessly on a freeway at about 12.40am local time (3.40pm AEDT) after it was seen street racing in another neighbourhood, the Tampa Police Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Florida Highway Patrol caught up with the vehicle and tried to perform a PIT manoeuvre, which involves bumping the rear fender to cause a spinout, but it was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

\"AAn air patrol unit spotted the silver sedan driving recklessly on a freeway at about 12.40am local time. (AP)<\/p>\n

Highway patrol officers \u201cdisengaged\u201d as the vehicle sped toward historic Ybor City near downtown, police said, and ultimately the driver lost control and hit more than a dozen people outside the bar, Bradley’s on 7th.<\/p>\n

Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital.<\/p>\n

As of Saturday afternoon, two people were hospitalised in critical condition, seven were listed as stable and two had been treated and discharged, police said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there were two people who had only minor injuries and declined treatment at the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened this morning was a senseless tragedy, our hearts are with the loved ones of the victims and all those who were impacted,\u201d Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Officers identified the suspect as 22-year-old Silas Sampson, who was booked and was being held at the Hillsborough County Jail.<\/p>\n

\"AThree people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital. (AP)<\/p>\n

Court documents show Sampson was charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death, all first-degree felonies.<\/p>\n

No attorney was immediately listed for Sampson who could speak on his behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur entire city feels this loss,\u201d Mayor Jane Castor, who also served as Tampa’s first female police chief, said on social media.<\/p>\n

She added that the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople clean up the damage from a car that crashed into a local business. (AP)<\/p>\n

In recent years, some states and local agencies have pushed to restrict high-speed car chases to protect both civilians and officers.<\/p>\n

Following a rise in fatalities, a 2023 study funded by the US Department of Justice called for chases to be rare, saying the dangers often outweigh the immediate need to take someone into custody.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Florida’s highway patrol has loosened limits on car chases and PIT maneuvers, tactics that the Justice Department-backed report characterised as \u201chigh-risk\u201d and \u201ccontroversial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A speeding car fleeing police slammed into a crowded bar, killing four people and injuring 11 in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-272160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}