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Two cousins die when car slams into semitrailer

"Man, they had to be flying," says the truck driver. "I didn't hear nothing. I didn't see headlights. I don't . . . know where they came from."

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published June 25, 2005

[Photo by Eamonn Kneeshaw]

Two men were killed early Friday when the Acura they were traveling in hit the semitrailer truck, above, at Bayshore Drive and Curlew Road in Dunedin. The Acura, which investigators said was going more than 80 mph, crumpled on impact.

	[Celidonio family]
	Cousins Tim Mortimer, left, and Michael Celidonio were pronounced dead at the scene.

The two cousins were a couple of miles from home, flying north in an Acura on Bayshore Drive early Friday.

They had spent part of the night playing poker at a bar on Main Street, friends said. Michael Celidonio, 24, on a weeklong leave from the Navy, had grown up with Tim Mortimer, 22. Friends said they were inseparable.

Together, they barreled toward the intersection with Curlew Road, where a northbound rock-hauling truck waited for the light to change. Charles Graham eased into gear at 2 a.m. when the Acura slammed into his trailer, Pinellas sheriff's investigators said.

The light was still red, but there were no skid marks. The impact tore off one of the trailer's axles and crumpled the Acura in half. Celidonio and Mortimer were pronounced dead at the scene. Glass and metal covered the roadway, closing it for six hours.

Judging by the destruction, investigators estimated that the car had been traveling faster than 80 mph.

"Man, they had to be flying," said Graham, 56, who had been headed to Brooksville to pick up rocks to be made into concrete. "I didn't hear nothing. I didn't see headlights. I don't even know where they came from."

When Graham got out of his cab and saw the wreckage, he assumed the worst. No one could have survived that, he said.

"If they hadn't hit me, they would have gone through the light on red," said Graham, who was uninjured. "There was no way they were going to stop."

Autopsies and toxicological tests will be performed, the Sheriff's Office said. No charges were filed.

Megan Hanrahan, 21, a friend of both men, said they had prank-called her some time after midnight. They were at Norton's on Main Street, and they sounded happy.

"They were out to get a laugh," Hanrahan said Friday, standing outside of Celidonio's family home with other friends of the pair. Celidonio's relatives said they weren't ready to talk about the crash.

Hanrahan linked Mortimer and Celidonio to the movie Stuck on You, in which the main characters are physically attached at the hip.

"They hung out every chance they got," she said. The two grew up blocks from each other. Both graduated from Dunedin High School. Their families are very close. They shared most of their friends.

"They were both looking forward to starting careers and having a family," Hanrahan said.

Celidonio, who had recently completed three years in the Navy, was thinking about re-enlisting and pursuing a career as an officer, friends said. Mortimer was studying dentistry.

Mortimer's family declined to comment Friday.

"They'll both be missed," Hanrahan said. "They'll never be forgotten. ... And we'll see them soon."

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:34:16]