One person was killed and two others were wounded early Tuesday when a patron who’d been kicked out of a Tampa strip club plowed a semi-truck cab into the building.
Police were called to Emperors Gentlemen’s Club around 4:19 a.m. after the truck hit bystanders in the parking lot and then careened into the front of the strip club.
Police believe the incident was intentional after witnesses said the 25-year-old driver had just been bounced from the establishment following an altercation inside. He was allegedly targeting a group of customers standing outside by the entrance.
One adult male died in the crash, while two other adult males were wounded. The driver of the truck, who has not been identified, also sustained critical injuries. The wounded victims are expected to survive.
Police said the man who was involved in the altercation with the suspect before the crash was not hit.
“What the officers discovered was that after an altercation at the club, a 25-year-old white male subject exited the club, got into a vehicle and waited, lied in wait until the individual he had an altercation with exited the club,” Tampa Police Major Patrick Messmer told Fox 13.
The suspect, who is hospitalized in stable condition and in police custody, will eventually be charged with first degree murder, attempted murder and DUI manslaughter, police said.
“This is an unbelievably tragic and completely avoidable incident,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a news release. “We will work to get justice for the victims and their families. We are thinking of all those impacted including the innocent bystanders who witnessed this horrific ordeal.”
