ELLEN GEDALIUS, egedalius@tampatrib.com
Copyright 2006 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - The man accused of killing a police detective in a hit-and-run crash was charged Tuesday with drunken driving.
Jose Luis Espinosa’s blood-alcohol level was 0.164 percent, sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway said. That is more than twice the 0.08 percent at which the state presumes a person to be intoxicated.
The test results prompted the sheriff’s office to charge Espinosa, 35, with manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular homicide. They are in addition to previous charges of driving without a valid license and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
The manslaughter charge is a second-degree felony.
Detective Juan Serrano, 49, was killed Saturday afternoon when his city-issued car was struck by a vehicle that ran a red light at Interstate 75 and Gibsonton Road, police said. Serrano, a 17-year Tampa Police Department veteran, had just dropped off Mayor Pam Iorio at her home. Serrano had been Iorio’s security official, driver and friend.
Serrano’s funeral, open to the public, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 509 N. Florida Ave. The city council has delayed the start of its Thursday meeting to 1:30 p.m.