After a Hillsborough County sheriffs deputy died in a wrongway crash. We are talking about deputy john kotfila. He was with the force six years when a driver smashed into the deputys cruiser headon. Erik mcbeth was also killed in that crash. And investigators are looking into whether alcohol may have been a factor here. And we want to check on detours around the first crash in st. Petersburg. We have a couple issues going on right now. Its a tough drive in pinellas county. In st. Pete, following this for you throughout the morning, folks. What you need to remember is that Central Avenue is completely blocked as they continue their investigation and so forth right at 54th street where the big accident happened. Again, Central Avenue completely closed down. Just go up and take 1st avenue north or south, they run parallel and they are excellent at getting by through the area. Traffic still light in the area. And again, an easy alternate. So thats good news. And big issue on the Courtney Campbell causeway, westbound lanes are blocked here. Theres an accident involving a semitruck, another vehicle and a pole has been knocked down. Never good when theres an accident but especially not good when theres a pole knocked down because it takes time to get the pole out of the roadway. If youre headed westbound, take the Howard Franklin bridge instead of the Courtney Campbell causeway. Eastbound, just got some delays but leave the house five minutes early and you should be fine. Tough morning for sure. Yeah, at least for traffic. And theres wet roads as well. We had overnight rain and more rain to come. You can see whats happening in the gulf of mexico. Thats still all has to comeon shore. Let me show you now as come on shore. Let me show you now until 6 30, still mostly dry but theres rain offshore that comes onshore between 7 00, 8 00 this morning. And still pocket oscars of rain at 9 30, 10 00. After lunchtime, i take the rain chances out of the forecast. Right now, upper 60s to lower 70s. Its very warm and in weather and traffic on the 8s, i have an eightday temperature trend for you gayle and gene. All right, leigh, thank you. Back to the breaking news we first told you about. Two Police Officers are in the hospital after a stolen car their undercover truck. Investigators are onscene at Central Avenue and 54th street in st. Pete. News channel 8s josh thomas joins us from there now. Josh, how are the officers and the teens doing . Reporter well, quite fine. The teens are doing okay but the driver at that of that vehicle, a 25yearold man, is in critical condition. And now as you can see behind me here, investigators are still on the scene of this crash which happened on Central Avenue just after midnight. Theyre taking measurements right now and have been here for several hours trying to piece this all together. It happened just after midnight as the officers, one of them from st. Petersburg and the other from tampaa were part of an Auto Theft Task force that had been formed last year following a string of auto thefts in tampa and st. Petersburg and they were trying to obviously look for stolen vehicles here on the streets. Now the officers were traveling down Central Avenue when they were tboned at 53rd street north. This happened this morning and it just so happens that the vehicle that hit them had been stolen last week after the owner of the vehicle left the keys in the car. Now there were six people in the vehicle that did the hitting of the undercover officers vehicle. Four were female, two of them male, ages 15 to 25. The most seriously injured is condition. The two officers are bruised but are expected to be okay. As you can see, Central Avenue is closed and probably will gene okay. Josh, thank you. Well this morning, the tragic death of a hillsborough duty. Funeral arrangements are in the why he was killed on the kotfila. Expressway. And we are hearing from a former deputy who knew kotfila well. Ryan, Deputy Kotfila was considered a really good guy. Morning to you. We spoke to a former deputy who worked with Deputy Kotfila here at the Sheriffs Office and he anyone else. This morning as you can see behind me, the flags are at halfstaff as many people remember this fallen deputy. He was just a good guy. You know, he went always above and beyond for everybody. Every crash that he worked, because he was a crash investigator, he treated it like it was the most serious thing for that citizen. Reporter they worked together for a few years at the Sheriffs Office before he left to begin a private business. He tells kotfila would help anyone. He is not surprised by that, a family of Police Officers. His dad is a sergeant with the Massachusetts State Police and his brother works for a small massachusetts as well. He said Law Enforcement was in kotfilas blood and that was on the job. At halfstaff. And the former deputy sounded off about wrongway crashes. Hear what he thinks about the problem plaguing bay area roads in the next half hour. Gayle, back to you for now. Just another tragic reminder that we have to get the problem under control. Thank you, ryan. Its 5 36. In your vote, gop front runner donald trump is bringing his campaign to tampa today. Trump just left boca raton where he had a relatively quiet day of campaigning. The rally drew thousands. He mentioned the violent protests at the rally in chicago, reiterating that he made the right decision. We want everybody to go home really happy, really peaceful. Will do, we will postpone it and it was a wise decision. We have been given a lot of credit. But trumps florida stop seemed to be the exception. Trump rallies saw protests and arrests from chicago to kansas city and organizers canceled the rally after fights broke out inside and outside. And in ohio, one demonstrator tried to storm the stage. Secret servicemen jumped into action, surrounding donald trump. Well now some in the party are calling for trump to take responsibility for his fiery rhetoric. But the republican front runner is on the defense and directing blame at democrat Bernie Sanders for the trouble in chicago. They werent really protester, they were like professionals. All over the place. Senator Bernie Sanders denied any involvement and even trumps fellow president ial candidates are pointing fingers at trump himself. Top. And it is not beneficial when you have a president ial candidate like donald trump telling supporters, punch that guy in the face. Now despite this wild weekend, donald trump is still ahead in the polls as we head into tomorrows primaries. Well sarah palin made a visit for the bay area stumping for donald trump. Palin made an appearance at the there. She shook hands and posed for pictures with spectators. Its 5 38. A check on the weather in a second but first, we want to tell you about Donald Trumps visit to tampa today at the Tampa Convention center. The rally starts at 2 00 this afternoon and news channel 8 will be there. And we will have updates on how the rally is beginning at first at 4 00. Now a check on the weather because theres rain in the area. So if youre headed to the trump rally, get indoors early. Thats right. And by 2 00, most of the rain will be gone. Could get underneath a shower. Now, just maybe some sprinkles up in the northern portion of pasco county and eastern portion of hernando. Look in the gulf of mexico, theres some heavier downpours there and thats going to be moving onshore. Between 8 00 and noon, i do expect to see a few passing showers, temperatures into the 70s. An afternoon high of 80 around 3 00, 4 00 today. Breezier conditions as well. So if you are also headed to the spring training game, there could be extra clouds, breezy but most of the rain gone. Sarasota, 78 degrees in l akeland. And then down into the mid70s. We will check on traffic on the 8s because theres a lot people need to know. Yeah. And a lot of issues just keep popping up this morning. Pinellas county has been a hot spot for us. Look at the maps. In st. Pete, we continue to follow the breaking traffic. Both directions due to that accident involving that stolen vehicle and two Police Officers. Take 1st avenue north or south as an alternate to central until they get that wrapped up. Courtney campbell causeway westbound a mess. We have a semitruck that has collided with another vehicle. The pole is down in lanes. Big mess up here. Westbound, go ahead and take at this point. The Howard Franklin bridge instead. And you can go through oldsmar but the Howard Franklin looks fantastic right now. Usually the traffic is busy coming into tampa. We are seeing eastbound delays as people look to the side. Thats why you have the eastbound delays. Gulf boulevard at 92nd avenue at sunset beach, a collision with injuries. Keep that in mind. And construction, just a reminder, u. S. 41 blocked at crenshaw lake road. Its also known as witaker thank you. Second week of hulk hogans 100 million sex tape trial. This morning, the website gawker will begin presenting witnesses. The judge will hold a hearing with attorneys to decide whether radio personalty bubba the love sponge must appear in court. He has said that he plans to the plead the fifth. More trouble for former spring break hot spot panama city beach. A spring breaker from indiana is dead after falling from a parking garage. Police discovered the body of the 20yearold. His friends claim he drank all day and was seen drunk about two hours before his body was found. Investigators dont believe anyone else was involved. Its a mistake he says he will regret for the rest of his life. I just had so much adrenalin and it may have seemed like i was driving erratically but my blood was pumped. We are learning what played a factorrer in a deadly crash. But first, a tug boat crash spilled thousands of gallons of fuel into the water but thats not what investigators are worried about. When we get back, the focus of the investigation. Were back. A deadly tug boat crash kills two crew members and now investigators are searching for a third worker who disappeared after the crash. The boat crashed into a barge near the new tappan zee bridge. Investigators are working to figure out how this happened. And several people are injured in a bus crash on a las vegas highway. Changed lanes and hit the bus, flipping the bus multiple times in the middle of the interstate. Now at least one person is critically hurt. The driver of the car was arrested, suspected of driving while impaired. Right now, Virginia Tech university is stepping in to help with flint, michigans toxic water crisis. Residents there will be hired to help researches go door to door to retest water in the community. Experts will also conduct forensic testing on Plumbing Systems in homes in flint. The Environmental Protection agency will fund this effort. Well the man accused of hitting and killing several dogs competing in the Iditarod Race will face charges. Police in alaska say the 24 yearold will be charged with assault and criminal mischief for hitting the dogs with a snow mobile. He admitted to authorities that he was driving the snow mobile after drinking when he hit two sled teams. The driver is broken up about for the dogs but for the drivers. I dont know how i can possibly make it right for jeff and ali but i hope they can forgive me. I didnt mean it. Police say he was going about 100 Miles Per Hour when he crashed into the first sled team. More than 70 years later, an american sailor killed in pearl harbor finally has a resting place of his own. His family had no idea where his remains were until ray emory stepped in. The survivor tracked uss oklahoma sailors that included luke. His remains were among 388 sets of remains exhumed last year. He was one of the first work. If it was my brother or father, i would like if he got killed somewhere, i would like to know if his body was somewhere, get him buried in a decent respect. Yeah, those relatives dont have to say a word, you can feel the emotion in their voice. Luke died in the line of duty. He was buried with full military honors. Chaotic video this morning of a wild brawl between gangs in australia and now police are promising to crack down on crime after crowds ran for safety. [ screaming ] police broke up fights in melbournes Central Business district. Crowds who were enjoying the annual festival had to run for cover. At the end of the night, four people were arrested. And a state of emergency is declared for rio brazil. Torrential rainfall is flooding parts of the city. Cars are almost completely submerged and one bus became stuck with passengers to still onboard. The rain water flowed into homes forcing residentses to walk in ankledeep water. Side alert. More americans are waiting to do their taxes to protect themselves from identity theft. A study show 78 are willing to delay the refund so the irs has time to fight tax fraud. will wait up to eight weeks. 20 will wait just one to two weeks. And about 15 say, theyll not wait to file their taxes. Well it is national pi day, the day that mimics the first mathematical constant pi. So not the kind you eat . Into everything. Throw some numbers out there and you could score 3. 14 years of free pizza. There you go. Pizza hut will distribute three math questions at 8 00 a. M. The princeton math professor wrote them. So lets turn things over to our math business. Im not promising that i can do it, but who knows. This morning, light sprinkles at this point. And pasco county. And sprinkles throughout pinellas county. Offshore. This is heavier rain well off sarasota, manatees coastline. And thats what i expect to comeon shore in the next couple hours. So bringing the rain chance hours. Down here at. A. M. When its 75 degrees. Noon. And actually, taking the rain p. M. Heres a look, southwest wind pushs the showers this morning but generally drier, still afternoon. Next couple day, cold fronts will stay to the north. Morning. Check it out through st. Patricks day. Highs near 80. We have our share of problems out there. We have a disabled vehicle. Its tying up the right lane here and the right shoulder, this is westbound i4 near the western part of the polk parkway. But no delays. And now lets talk about the big issue, the Courtney Campbell causeway westbound, guess what, all lanes are blocked at this point. Kind of near the boat ramp before you get to the hump. And eastbound delays as people slowing down to check out whats going on. And heres whats going on, we have a semitruck and a vehicle that collided and we have a pole down in lanes. And thats why all the westbound lanes are blocked. They may be letting you get by on the frontage road but you can take the Howard Franklin bridge moving into pinellas county. Again, this is westbound. Also hillsborough avenue through oldsmar is also another very good alternate. Just takes more time. St. Pete, looking good but Central Avenue at 54th street west of that, all those Central Avenue lanes are blocked so there. Thats a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. Back to gene and gayle. Thank you. When youre always on the go, it can be difficult to keep your thoughts in order. So its easy to negligent your diet and grab the first thing you see and go. Coming up, the healthy and fast fuel dietitians are recommending for those always were always go, go, go so its no surprise that we want our food to come fast. Dietitians recommend checking nutrition labels before choosing convenience. Sodium and calories can hide in unexpected places. One dietitian recommends togo meals from takehome kitchens. Most of those companies are sodium conscious so the sodium will be lower and the food is fresher for the most part, not frozen food. As a dietitian, he recommends diversity and variety in your meals. I agree with that. And we have so many of those services in tampa bay. So its convenient. Weather and traffic on the 8s is three minutes away. Just ahead, the latest on the crash that sent two Police Officers to the emergency room. Its 5 54. You are watching news channel 8 time for weather and traffic on the 8s. Just a couple of sprinkles happening right now. But i expect some heavier rain to come onshore in the next couple hours. By the afternoon, rain chance goes back down. It will be warm and breezy with a high of 80. Overnight, 67. So warm for this time of the year. But fog may develop tomorrow morning. We will track that for you coming up. 8s . Courtney campbell causeway. Its a beautiful drive when you can make it across it but look, blocked. And a pole down in lanes. We are seeing eastbound delays. They just extended because people are slowing down to check out whats going on on the westbound side. Westbound is not open. So take the Howard Franklin bridge instead if youre moving into pinellas county. And hillsborough avenue up through old mars, that might be another route to take instead two Police Officers hurt this morning after a crash with a stolen car filled with teens and young adults. Good morning. Welcome to news channel 8 today. Im gayle guyardo. And im gene ramirez. This happened right after midnight in st. Petersburg. Investigators believe the stolen car was speeding when it crashed into an Undercover Police truck carrying two officers. The officers are part of the Auto Theft Task force. And news channel 8s josh thomas joins us live from the scene. Josh, what are the detectives saying about the crash and injuries