Courtesy photo
Joshua Baldes, 27, of Daytona Beach, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and other felonies in a deadly crash that resulted from veering left and direcctly into the path of three motorcycles, killing a pregnant passenger on one of them Friday night in Daytona Beach, according to police.
DAYTONA BEACH -- A 21-year-old pregnant Port Orange woman thrown from the back of a motorcycle Friday night is the first Biketoberfest-related fatality with the four-day rally that ends today.
Gace Scullion, a week shy of her 22nd birthday and three to four weeks pregnant, was killed when the bike she was on was among three motorcycles struck by a Jeep Cherokee that made a left turn in front of them, Daytona Beach police said.
Joshua Baldes, 27, the driver of the SUV, was charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death and leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury.
Baldes was westbound on George W. Engram Boulevard at 10 p.m., when he suddenly veered left into the direct path of the bikes, police said. Baldes took off from the scene, but was captured a block away, police said.
An unidentified off-duty police officer was one of three other people seriously injured in the crash, police said. Jeramy Scarsella, 22, the rider of a Yamaha that Scullion was on when she lost her life, was transported to Halifax Medical Center with serious critical injuries. Shawn Scarsella, 24, a second biker, suffered a broken hand, and Michelle Koelker, who was a passenger on one of the bikes, suffered broken ribs.
Police stressed that all of the bikers and their passengers were wearing full-face helmets. According to an initial police report, Basldes, the driver of the Jeep, told police he panicked after the crash and was trying to call his sister for a ride.
Baldes denied driving the Jeep, but after the keys were found in his pants pocket, he confessed, police said, adding he had at least two mixed drinks and was on an anti-depressant medication.
Blood was voluntarily drawn from Baldes when police caught up with him to determine the level of alcohol and drugs in his system Police said a Votran bus near the crash scene was equipped with a camera that captured most of what led to the deadly crash.
Biketoberfest, now in its 19th year and centered around Daytona Beach, was expected to draw 125,000 bikers. The 10-day February "Bike Week" draws upwards of a half million bikers.
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