DRUG BUST RESULTS IN DEATH OF MOTHER

PINELLAS PARK - Vice squad officers watched Thursday night as the two
men appeared to sell several rocks of crack cocaine to an undercover
police officer.

Time to move in.

They tried to maneuver several police vehicles around the suspects'
car, hoping to block it in, a common police tactic.

But the white Monte Carlo broke free, bolted out of the Shoppes at
Park Place and sped south on U.S. 19.

At the same time, a South Carolina woman, her three young children
and a friend were turning left on U.S. 19 to 70th Avenue.

The Monte Carlo broadsided them, killing the mother and hospitalizing
the other four.

The two suspects, both young St. Petersburg men, fled on foot but
were arrested soon after. On Friday, police could not explain how the
Monte Carlo got away from them.

The crack sold for $120.

Undercover Work Nothing New

Officers in Pinellas Park have been working undercover for some time
now, buying crack cocaine in an effort to build cases against local
dealers. Thursday was supposed to be a big payoff, with at least
three busts in the area of the former ParkSide Mall.

The first two arrests went smoothly. The third did not.

An undercover officer agreed to meet Rashane Deangelo Barber, 21, in
front of the garden center at the Target. Officers had bought drugs
from him three times before, according to reports.

At 8:51 p.m., police said, Barber's half brother, Devonta Thorton
Merriex, 20, pulled the Monte Carlo into the lot. The undercover
officer bought six rocks for $20 each. As police moved in, the car took off.

Officers did not try to chase it and lost sight of it as it turned
south onto U.S. 19. Moments later came a crash and a plume of smoke.

Only three minutes had elapsed since the Monte Carlo had entered the
shopping center.

Police and paramedics who had been part of the take-down team rushed
to the scene. The Monte Carlo was empty.

A Ford Taurus with its side bashed in was about 10 yards away. Dead
behind the wheel was Nachenga E. Robinson, 32.

Injured but alive in the back seat were her children: Eric, 13,
Obadiah, 11, and I'on, 8.

In the front seat also injured was Caroline Johnson, 51, a friend of
Robinson's father.

All are from Florence, S.C.

Rescuers needed extrication tools to get everyone out of the Taurus.

"They were all conscious at the scene," said Pinellas Park police
spokesman Sandy Forseth. "They couldn't get out of the car right
away. It was a pretty nasty scene."

The children were taken to All Children's Hospital. The family
requested no information be released about their conditions.

Johnson was at Bayfront Medical Center in critical condition.

As paramedics helped the survivors, police and Pinellas sheriff's
deputies began searching for the suspects. Barber was arrested about
20 minutes after the crash in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant,
the Egg Platter.

A sheriff's deputy with a K-9, Deuce, tracked Merriex to a back yard
off 62nd Avenue and found him hiding in a pile of debris and
vegetation. He was taken to Northside Hospital and treated for
scrapes and a dog bite.

Merriex was charged with vehicular homicide and multiple counts of
leaving a crash scene. Barber was charged with multiple counts of
cocaine sale and possession.

Both remained at the Pinellas County Jail Friday night on high bail amounts.

Records show the brothers have long criminal histories.