Man Charged in Jolley Trolley Hit-And-Run

A 22-year-old Holiday man faces a number of charges after Pinellas County deputies say he’s responsible for causing two crashes last week and then leaving the scene of both.

The case against Kirk Ryan Mayberry began to unfold around 10 p.m. Nov. 6 when a Pinellas deputy spotted a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria heading east on Causeway Boulevard at a high rate of speed. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, an email from the agency said, but its driver fled.

The deputy did not pursue the vehicle, the agency noted, but the driver kept going at a high rate of speed. The Crown Victoria ended up hitting a 2005 Nissan Murano that was heading south on Alternate 19 before also striking a 2014 Freightliner Jolley Trolley at the same Dunedin intersection.

After hitting the two vehicles, deputies say the driver left the scene and continued south on Alternate 19 to Palm Boulevard where he abandoned the Crown Victoria and fled on foot.

Deputies were unable to catch up with the driver at that time, but did find two passengers from the car. The passengers, deputies said, tried to tell them they had been carjacked prior to the crashes.

Mayberry was brought into custody Wednesday afternoon after the sheriff’s office’s investigation led detectives to his door. He now faces two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, leaving the scene of a crash with injury, fleeing and eluding and felon in possession of a firearm charges.

As for the two passengers, Sophia Hill, 24, and Kendyll Jacobs, 21, they were both charged in the incident. Hill faces resisting an officer without violence charge and giving a false report to law enforcement. Jacobs was charged with accessory after the fact and resisting arrest without violence.

The driver of the Nissan was injured in the crash as were two children in the vehicle. The Jolley Trolley operator was not injured, deputies noted.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office