A Tampa city worker is under arrest for allegedly hitting a teenager while driving under the influence of alcohol. Both the Tampa Tribune and St. Pete Times are carrying stories about 47-year-old Richard Anthony Stephens, who according to both newspapers is a City of Tampa employee with the public works department.
There are conflicting reports on the age of the victim but all reports seem to concur that the teenager is most likely going to recover from the drunk driving accident. Camena Wiltshire was walking on the side of 17th Street with a friend when she was allegedly hit by Stephens’ car. She was thrown against the windshield and taken to St. Joseph’s hospital. Her injuries were listed as non-life threatening.

Police report that Stephen’s hit the young girl at 8220 N. 17th St. near her home. He was driving a 1993 Toyota Camry. When police caught up to Stephens they suspected he was a drunk driver and had him perform field sobriety tests, which they report indicated impairment. He submitted to Intoxilyzer tests while in jail in Tampa and blew 0.113 and 0.111, both over the legal limit. He was arrested for DUI with serious bodily injury. He was apparently off duty at the time if the crash and was being held on $2000 bail.
There was no information on whether the victim of the accident was on a sidewalk or just the side of the road at the time of the Wednesday night accident. Police did report that Stephens’ was driving his Camry northbound. The field sobriety tests were conducted on N. Ruth Place on the 8700 block. None of the on-line stories indicated of Stephens was able to post bail or if he was still being held. They also did not mention which jail he was taken to in Tampa although Orient Road was the most likely destination for a DUI arrestee.