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Hernando Today

Asst. Fire Chief Loses Stepson In Crash

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: August 12, 2008

SPRING HILL - A southbound motorcyclist on U.S. 19 was killed Monday morning when a car struck his bike.

Jacob "Jake" Cook, 31, died on the road's grassy shoulder near the shopping plaza that houses Target and Publix.

Frank DeFrancesco, assistant chief of Hernando County Fire Rescue, heard the accident on his emergency radio around 7:45 a.m. as he headed into work.

At noon he learned that the victim was his stepson.

Every fatal accident stirs the emotions of a firefighter, "but when it's someone from home, it just hits harder," DeFrancesco said by phone Monday afternoon.

Cook was southbound on Commercial Way, just past the light at Breakwater Boulevard, when a car made a left turn and clipped him outside the Dunkin Donuts, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Witness Jeff Miner said the impact sent the bike into a skid and that the motorcyclist went head-over-heels before striking a metal light pole. Miner, a former emergency medical technician, rushed over to help him but found no signs of life.

"He never had a chance," Miner said.

FHP charged the driver of the car, 90-year-old Angelo Lagreco, with violation of right of way. Records show three driving infractions on his record since 2006: failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to wear a seat belt and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

Cook was still in elementary school when his mother married DeFrancesco 19 years ago. They lived in Pinellas County then.

His stepfather is candid about Cook's criminal history. A combination of the wrong crowd, drugs and alcohol led him down that path, he said.

Cook was almost killed in 2006 when he was struck by a car while crossing U.S. 19 on foot in Hudson. The impact put him in a coma for four days.

His trouble with the law continued. Cook was released from jail in New York on July 2. Something or someone changed his life while he was there, DeFrancesco said.

Since his return to Hernando County, Cook was regularly attending church and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

"Without the drugs and alcohol he is a good person," DeFrancesco said. "He'd give you the shirt off his back if you asked him."

Then Monday morning dawned. DeFrancesco wasn't sure where his stepson was headed when he was killed. The crash from 2006 had left him unable to work much.

DeFrancesco said Cook rode his motorcycle everywhere and was pleased in a sad way that his stepson died doing what he loved.

The shock is still sinking in.

"You shouldn't have to bury your kids," said DeFrancesco.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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