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Two die in crash following violent attack
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| By: Teresa Stone Irwin, Times Staff Writer |
March 12, 2009 |
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Donald Bazzell Jr.
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Just before 10 a.m. on March 6, Union County sheriff's deputies responded to a residence on Southwest Seventh Street in Lake Butler. An emergency call came from 26-year-old Rebecca Ocker, who reported that her ex-boyfriend had beaten and stabbed her.
"You've got to hurry up, I'm bleeding all over the place," Ocker said in her 911 call.
In less than a minute, deputies were at the home located across S.R. 121 from the Kanagroo store.
At the home, Lt. Doug York said Ocker was found covered in blood on a living room couch with her 4-year old nearby. The boy was unharmed.
"The struggle began in the bedroom and continued down a hallway and into the living room," York said. Ocker had first been in her bed when she was beaten with a nightstick and then stabbed with an ice pick.
Ocker said her attacker was Donald Bazzell Jr., 42, of Melrose who had fled the scene. She and Bazzell were both employed at Florida State Prison and had been having an affair. Ocker was transported to Shands in Gainesville with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Just as a BOLO was about to be issued on Bazzell, York said there was a report of a head-on collision on C.R. 231 near the Reception and Medical Center. Arriving at the scene, it was found that the truck causing the collision, a late model Ford F-150, matched the description of Bazzell's truck. Bazzell had crashed his truck head-on into a Department of Corrections van carrying two correctional officers from the Reception and Medical Center. The officers were just about to return to RMC after completing mock inmate escape training exercise.
Killed in the collision were Bazzell and the driver of the DOC van, Adam Sanderson, 32, of Gainesville.
A passenger in the van, Fred Jackson, 41, was airlifted to Shands in Gainesville with serious injuries. Both he and Ocker have since been released from the hospital.
Authorities shut down the highway for several hours following the collision. Numerous correctional officers were on hand assisting deputies and EMS, but all appeared a bit stunned as their heads hung low, deeply saddened by the events that had taken place.
Lt. Bill Leeper with the Florida Highway Patrol said that for unknown reasons, Bazzell crossed the centerline and struck the DOC van head-on. The preliminary investigation showed no indication that Bazzell tried to brake before colliding with the van. Leeper said that his speedometer was stuck on 88 mph.
Bazzell was a correctional officer with the state from 1992-1997. He voluntarily left but was rehired in 2006 at Florida State Prison. Spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections, Gretl Plessinger, said Bazzell's employee records showed no prior problems or disciplinary actions.
Sanderson graduated from Union County High School, and having lived most of his life in Lake Butler, he resided with his wife and son in Gainesville for the past eight and a half years. He had been employed with DOC for more than 10 years at the time of his death.
Sanderson is survived by his wife, Heather Kelly Sanderson and a son, Logan Chase Sanderson, both of Gainesville. He is also survived by his parents, Gerald and Elaine Arnold Sanderson of Lake Butler, a brother, Gerald (Jerry) Sanderson Jr. of Lake Butler and a sister, Jennifer Dawn Sanderson, also of Lake Butler.
On Tuesday morning, men and women wearing their brown Department of Corrections uniforms lined the street outside the packed First Christian Church of Lake Butler for the funeral service.
A DOC honor guard burial service took place at Mt. Zion Cemetery.
"Adam [Sanderson] was well-known and highly regarded in Union County," said Major Garry Seay.
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©Bradford County Telegraph 2009
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