Officer Tried to Stop Man Accused of Throwing Child Over Skyway

A St. Petersburg Police officer on his way home from work just after midnight Thursday tried to stop a car that passed him going 100 mph.

Inside that car, authorities would learn later, was Tampa man John Jonchuck Jr., 25, and his 5-year-old daughter Phoebe.

As the man neared the top of the Dick Misener Bridge, on the approach to the Skyway, Officer William Vickers, 36, watched as the car stopped, John Jonchuck got out and threw Phoebe into the water below, police department spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez wrote in an email to media.

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Jonchuck then got back into his Chrysler PT Cruiser and took off into Manatee County where authorities there stopped him near the University Parkway exit.

A search for the child was launched with U.S. Coast Guard assistance, Fernandez wrote. Phoebe was located and attempts were made to resuscitate her. She later died at a local hospital.

Her father is now in the Pinellas County Jail, facing a host of charges. St. Petersburg Police say he’s been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated fleeing and eluding and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer. He was being held Thursday morning without bond.

Jonchuck’s white PT Cruiser was recovered from Manatee County and towed to the St. Petersburg Police Department as evidence. Phoebe’s pink car seat was found in the back.

Photo Credit: John Jonchuck Jr., courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail/Phoebe Jonchuck’s car seat, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department/Phoebe Jonchuck, photo from Facebook

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