A 45-year-old Callahan man died Friday morning after he was thrown from his SUV during a rollover crash two miles northwest of Waldo.
Timothy Wayne Spruiell was headed east on County Road 225 at 12:20 a.m., when he tried to make a sharp right turn and lost control of his 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche, according to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report.
The SUV veered off the road onto a grassy shoulder, and while Spruiell tried to correct the vehicle by steering to the right, it overturned and rolled over several times along the roadway.
Spruiell, who did not wear a seatbelt, was ejected from the SUV.
When troopers arrived, they pronounced Spruiell dead at the scene. They also determined he was driving more than 60 mph in a 55 mph speed zone.
FHP spokeswoman Tracy Hisler-Pace said Saturday that the Alachua County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy to see if Spruiell was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
No one else was injured.
***
A 39-year-old Gainesville woman was arrested Friday morning after she allegedly attacked her 70-year-old mother.
Crystal Marie Ross was charged with battery on an elderly person, according to a Gainesville Police arrest report.
At about 4 a.m. Friday, Ross punched her mother in the chest during an argument. She also pulled her mother’s hair and tried to choke her, police said.
Officers booked Ross into the Alachua County Jail, where she remained Sunday night in lieu of $50,000 bond.
***
A 29-year-old Gainesville man was arrested Saturday night after police say he tried to eat a marijuana cigarette when an officer pulled him and another man over.
Michael Warren II was charged with marijuana possession and tampering with evidence, according to a Gainesville Police arrest report.
At about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Officer Jeremiah Kelly pulled over a car on the 400 block of Northeast 18th Street after he noticed the driver wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. After Kelly walked up to the car, the driver allowed him to search inside, according to the report.
Kelly noticed Warren sitting in the backseat and found a small piece of marijuana on his lap. Kelly asked if Warren had any drugs on him. He refused to answer and started to make a “chewing motion” with his mouth, according to the report.
Kelly ordered Warren to open his mouth and found a “significant amount” of marijuana in it.
Warren said he ate the marijuana cigarette because he got scared when police pulled the car over.
Warren was booked into jail and has since been released, according to jail records.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/4/2013 under the headline "Roundup: weekend crime and a crash"
