Pro Football

While the central Florida community of Brooksville mourned the loss of a hometown hero, police pieced together details of the car accident that killed Philadelphia Eagle defensive tackle Jerome Brown. Brown, 27, and his 12-year-old nephew, Augusta Wesley Brown, died Thursday when the athlete’s sports car skidded out of control, went airborne and hit a palm tree and light pole before flipping and landing on its roof.

Brooksville police Capt. Ray Schumacher said investigators were still trying to determine why Brown lost control of his black Corvette and how fast he was driving when he pulled away from a car dealership where he had been talking with friends.

“He accelerated rapidly--on the wrong side of the street--went into an erratic slide pattern and slid off the road,” Schumacher said, adding there was no evidence indicating that the late-afternoon accident was drug- or alcohol-related.

“There were no signs of impaired driving. We didn’t find anything that would suggest anything like that,” Schumacher said. “We’re not sure what caused the accident.”