Authorities said they know this much: Swensen, who has a criminal history, wasn't supposed to be driving.
SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER and KEVIN GRAHAM
Published March 17, 2004
TAMPA - A first-year psychology student at the University of South Florida and her companion died Tuesday morning after he drove through two red lights and slammed into a pole near the campus.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said passenger Alicia Bennington, 19, and driver Brandon Swensen, 21, died when his 1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo hit a utility pole at the southwest corner of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and 131st Avenue.
It's unclear where the two were headed or the nature of their relationship, but authorities said they know this much: Swensen, who has a criminal history, wasn't supposed to be driving.
The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles lists his license status as "ineligible" and records show the Tampa man has been cited for speeding and driving with a suspended license.
The accident happened about 1 a.m. as Deputy James Ennis was patrolling near USF.
He saw Swensen drive through a red light at Fletcher Avenue and N Palm Drive, said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder.
Ennis turned on his flashing lights and drove up behind the vehicle, trying to get the Dodge to pull over. But Swensen sped up and drove onto the USF campus.
Ennis had by then run a check on the Dodge and determined it wasn't stolen.
Department policy forbids deputies from chasing vehicles for traffic offenses, so Ennis turned off his flashing lights but continued driving around campus in search of the Dodge.
As the deputy drove toward 131st Street and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, he saw the car spinning out of control.
By the time Ennis got to the intersection, the Dodge's back end had slammed into a pole at the southwest corner of the intersection, Reder said.
Investigators determined Swensen had run a second red light as he left campus going west on 131st Avenue and crossed the path of a 1993 Lexus headed south on Bruce B. Downs.
Reder said the impact of the Lexus sent the Dodge into the pole, killing Swensen and Bennington on impact.
The Lexus driver, 48-year-old Adolphus Adams of 4108 E 97th Ave. in Tampa, was treated for minor injuries at the scene, Reder said.
USF spokeswoman Michelle Carlyon said Swensen is not listed in human resources records as a USF employee, but crash investigators found in Swensen's possession a USF courtesy badge, which is required for campus access.
Carlyon said the badges are available to faculty, staff, students, alumni, family and people working temporarily on campus.
As of late Tuesday, USF officials hadn't determined how Swensen got the badge, which had his name on it.
In 2002 he pleaded no contest to a domestic battery charge in a Temple Terrace case, according to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough County jail.
He was sentenced to a month in jail.
In June 2003, Swensen again was charged with domestic battery.
Two months later, he was arrested and charged with felony grand theft, domestic battery and fraudulent use of personal information.
Adjudication was withheld in those cases, according to FDLE records.
State driving records show Swensen has a history of traffic citations, including a year-old case in Pasco County in which he was found guilty of driving 56 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Also in 2003, he was cited for not having proper vehicle registration and for driving with a suspended license.
Over the years he has lived in Tampa, Land O'Lakes and Daytona Beach.
Fewer details emerged Tuesday about Bennington, a Sarasota High graduate who had already joined a sorority and declared psychology as her major.
A woman who answered the phone at the Benningtons' Sarasota home Tuesday afternoon declined comment.
Tuesday afternoon, as word spread of Bennington's death, friends and fellow residents of USF's Eta Hall comforted each other.
- Times staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at svansickler@sptimes.com or 226-3373.
© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times.
All rights reserved