Driver in Polk County charged in fatal, 2-vehicle August crash

LAKELAND — Almost eight months after the crash that killed her husband, an arrest has been made, and Christy Birkhold said there may finally be some justice.

“I’ve lost my husband and I am just so heartbroken,” she said about James Birkhold. “I just hope there will be some justice done for him.”

Kyle Cooper, 24, of Mulberry was arrested March 14 and faces a charge of vehicular homicide, ac- cording to a Lakeland Police Department complaint affidavit. Sgt. Gary Gross, LPD spokesman, said the department completed the affidavit in December but the State Attorney’s Office had to review the case before it could file charges.

The crash occurred Aug. 16 at about 1:40 p.m. when Cooper, who was driving south on Harden Boulevard in a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, slammed into the driver’s side of Birkhold’s 2014 Lexus ES 350 while he was turning left onto Harden Boulevard from Beaker Boulevard, re- ports said.

The impact caused Birkhold’s Lexus to travel about 64 feet after the crash and the Silverado to go about 102 feet, reports said. Birkhold was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, where he died, reports said. He was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Birkhold’s passenger, Don Lindley, of Blythewood, S.C., had minor injuries. Cooper and his passenger, 20-year-old Morgan Thomas, also of Mulberry, were transported to the Lakeland hospital.

After the crash, LPD’s traffic homicide team interviewed several witnesses who all said Cooper was driving recklessly and “failed to use due care around other vehicles,” according to the complaint affidavit.

Witnesses said they saw the Silverado speeding up and then slowing down in traffic, almost colliding with other vehicles, reports said.

One witness said he was cut off by the Silverado and that he saw the truck weaving in and out of traffic.