A car fleeing police slams into a bar in Florida, killing 4 and injuring
11
[November 10, 2025]
By KATE PAYNE
A speeding car fleeing police slammed into a crowded bar early Saturday,
killing four people and injuring 11 in a historic district of Tampa,
Florida, that is known for its nightlife and tourists.
An air patrol unit spotted the silver sedan driving recklessly on a
freeway at about 12:40 a.m. after it was seen street racing in another
neighborhood, the Tampa Police Department said in a statement.
The Florida Highway Patrol caught up with the vehicle and tried to
perform a PIT maneuver, which involves bumping the rear fender to cause
a spinout, but it was unsuccessful.
Highway patrol officers “disengaged” as the vehicle sped toward historic
Ybor City near downtown, police said, and ultimately the driver lost
control and hit more than a dozen people outside the bar, Bradley's on
7th.
Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital. As of
Saturday afternoon, two people were hospitalized in critical condition,
seven were listed as stable and two had been treated and discharged,
police said. Additionally there were two people who had only minor
injuries and declined treatment at the scene.
“What happened this morning was a senseless tragedy, our hearts are with
the loved ones of the victims and all those who were impacted,” Police
Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.
Officers identified the suspect as 22-year-old Silas Sampson, who was
booked Saturday and was being held at the Hillsborough County Jail.
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Denis Ramsey cries during a vigil for the victims of an overnight
crash of a vehicle involved in a high speed chase, which caused
several deaths and multiple injuries at Bradley's on 7th, a popular
LGBTQ+ nightclub, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (Martha
Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Court documents show Sampson was charged with four counts of
vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated fleeing or eluding
with serious bodily injury or death, all first-degree felonies.
No attorney was immediately listed for Sampson who could speak on
his behalf.
“Our entire city feels this loss,” Mayor Jane Castor, who also
served as Tampa's first female police chief, said on social media.
She added that the investigation is ongoing.
In recent years some states and local agencies have pushed to
restrict high-speed car chases to protect both civilians and
officers. Following a rise in fatalities, a 2023 study funded by the
U.S. Department of Justice called for chases to be rare, saying the
dangers often outweigh the immediate need to take someone into
custody.
Nevertheless, Florida's highway patrol has loosened limits on car
chases and PIT maneuvers, tactics that the Justice Department-backed
report characterized as “high-risk” and “controversial.”
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