Sheriff Gee's Wife Out of Hospital Following Crash

The wife of Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee was released from the hospital late Thursday following , the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Rhonda Gee did not have any permanent injuries, just "bumps and bruises," sheriff's office spokesperson Larry McKinnon told the Times.

Gee's car was plowed into by Raul de Alejandro, 22, around 7:30 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Lithia Pinecrest Road and Bloomingdale Avenue, officials said. De Alejandro, who authorities say is a known member of the "Dover Locos" gang, was fleeing from a Hess gas station after he got into an altercation with a clerk who refused to sell him cigarettes, deputies allege.

De Alejandro struck Gee's 2012 Dodge with his 1995 Buick as she drove through the intersection, then fled the scene, McKinnon said. He was later apprehended by deputies after his car broke down on the side of the road.

The sheriff arrived at the scene and rode with his wife to Tampa General Hospital, the Times reports. Gee planned to stay home with his wife Friday as she recovered.

De Alejandro is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, leaving a crash with injuries, leaving the scene with property damage, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and disorderly conduct.

He was released from jail Friday on $5,250 bond, records show.

Gee did not have any permanent injuries, just "bumps and bruises," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon. He said he did not know whether Gee had suffered a concussion.

McKinnon said the crash that sent Gee to the hospital happened about 7:30 a.m. near the intersection of Lithia-Pinecrest Road and Bloomingdale Avenue as Raul De Alejandro, 22, sped away from a Hess gas station parking lot with his 15-year-old sister in the car.

De Alejandro, who McKinnon said was a member of the Dover Locos gang, got into a confrontation with the gas station cashier over her refusal to sell him a pack of cigarettes without photo ID, McKinnon said.

He threatened the clerk, peeled out of the lot, ran a red light and hit the passenger side door of Rhonda Gee's car going about 15 to 20 mph, said sheriff's Maj. Clyde Eisenberg.

De Alejandro fled the scene of the crash but was apprehended after his car broke down about a mile from the collision, officials said.