Crime & Safety
Cops: Drunk Drivers Lined Up for Arrest After Fatal Crash
A fatal motorcycle crash led to a second accident that was followed by a series of DUI arrests.
A late Thursday night motorcycle crash in St. Petersburg led to a chain of events that ultimately resulted in the arrest of four impaired drivers.
The domino-effect incident started just before midnight as a 2007 Pontiac G5 driven by Dominique Dement, 23, of Treasure Island, was heading south on 66th Street North.
Dement and her two friends were riding in the curb lane when a Honda motorcycle driven by David Israhel Flores-Vega, 27, of St. Petersburg, made a left turn in front of the car, an email from police said.
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The front of Flores-Vega’s bike hit the front left bumper of the Pontiac, sending the motorcycle rider into the windshield, over the car and into the street, police noted.
“Flores-Vega, who was wearing a helmet and appeared to have been drinking, was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in critical condition,” the email noted.
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Flores-Vega died early Friday morning from injuries sustained in the crash.
As police were investigating the first crash, a second one occurred.
This time, police said, an elderly man ran into one of the unoccupied police cruisers on the scene.
The man, police say, did not appear to be impaired and caused no injuries.
As police worked what was now two accident scenes, they said impaired drivers started coming out of the woodwork.
“Four separate drivers approached the scene impaired and were arrested for DUI,” the agency noted in an email. “They were arrested because they attempted to drive through the investigation scene.”
The four motorists charged with DUI after police say they tried to drive through the investigation scene are:
- Benjamin Emmons, 22, charged with DUI (BRAC .221) and possession of cocaine
- David Tyler Payne, 23, charged with DUI, refused a breath test
- Joachim Michael Kohlhase, 49, charged with DUI (BRAC .224) and possession of cocaine
- Mechelle Darlene Gould, 38, charged with DUI (BRAC .181)
The name of the elderly driver involved in the second crash has not yet been released.
Image via Shutterstock
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