Crash Passenger Arrested, Driver Still on the Loose

Suspected hit-and-run driver Christopher Frank Dohmen remains on the loose while the injured passenger in his car has since been arrested.

That’s the latest from the Florida Highway Patrol in a hit-and-run that took place Monday in Palm Harbor. Although passenger Ashley Love was injured in the crash and required medical attention, she was combative with emergency workers on the scene and wouldn’t help troopers identify the driver of the car she was in, according to the patrol’s Sgt. Steve Gaskins.

Love has been charged with battery upon EMS personnel and violation of probation, Gaskins wrote in an email to media.

In the meantime, efforts to find Dohmen continue.

The crash in question involved a 1999 Chrysler 300 registered to Dohmen, 24. The crash occurred around 8:37 p.m. Monday as as the Chrysler was traveling south on Belcher Road north of Alderman at a high rate of speed, a highway patrol media release said. As that car was heading south, a Nissan Altima driven by Nicolas Diamantidis, 62, of Merrick, N.Y., was heading north. When the Chrysler crossed into the intersection of Belcher and Alderman, the driver lost control and sideswiped the Altima, the release said.

The Chrysler then struck a curb, hit a light pole and overturned, ejecting passenger Love, 25, of Largo. Dohmen, troopers say, fled the scene on foot.

The passengers in Diamantidis’ car all suffered minor injuries and were taken to Florida Hospital, the release said. They are Anna Diamantidis, 57, and Maria Eskanazy, 62, of Tarpon Springs. Nicolas also suffered minor injuries.

The roadway didn’t reopen to traffic until 5:13 a.m. Tuesday.

Anyone with information on Dohmen’s whereabouts is asked to contact the highway patrol at 813-631-4020.

Photo Credit: Christopher Frank Dohmen and Ashley Love/Courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol