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FHP says survivor was the driver

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published December 23, 2006

SPRING HILL - A year after a car crash killed Marc Collins, the Florida Highway Patrol has made an arrest.

At 3 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2005, Collins and his friend Brian Gomes were speeding down a winding road, fleeing from the police.

Their sport utility vehicle veered off the road and hit a mailbox, an electric meter, a power pole and a phone box.

Finally, it slammed into a concrete culvert on Pickford Street, east of Landover Boulevard.

Collins died at the scene. The FHP said he was the one behind the wheel.

But his friend, Caitlin Cartier, disagreed.

Cartier was on the phone with Collins at the time of the crash. A year ago, she told the St. Petersburg Times that Collins was a victim of Gomes' recklessness.

"The last thing I heard was, 'Oh s---, we're getting pulled over,' " Cartier recalled. "Brian kept going. He kept running and Marc kept saying, 'Let me out of the car, let me out of the car.' Marc was begging to be let out of the car. ... 'Stop, dawg, stop.' "

The call ended when the SUV hit the culvert.

At the time, the FHP said the evidence pointed to Collins behind the wheel. But after a yearlong investigation, law enforcement changed its mind.

"The lab had identified the blood behind the wheel as belonging to Gomes," said Trooper Larry Coggins Jr., an FHP spokesman. That was enough to convince the State Attorney's Office.

Gomes was arrested Thursday and charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. He is being held at the Hernando County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

"It's all a little overwhelming," Collins' sister, Michelle, said of the arrest. "He was walking around for a year."

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or 352 754-6114.

[Last modified December 22, 2006, 20:55:40]