DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two men, one the assailant and one the getaway driver, are in custody weeks after a woman was knocked unconscious during an early morning brawl, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Police said the fight happened around 2:50 a.m. on Sept. 12 in the area of Seabreeze Boulevard and Grandview Avenue, outside some bars in the area.
Newly released reports show 48-year-old Pamela Burich was in town for her son’s wedding and as the wedding party was leaving Coyote Ugly to go back to the hotel, they noticed two large groups that looked as if they were about to fight.
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The victim tried to get away but ended up in the middle of the fight, which is when Kyle Oliver hit her on the head, causing her to hit the ground and be knocked unconscious, according to authorities.
“Our victim was in town for her son’s wedding which she didn’t get to attend because of this. She happened to get involved by walking by. Innocent and was struck during this disturbance between two other people,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri said.
Police said she has since had surgery but remains in a coma.
“Thank God, by the grace of God she’s going to make a full recovery,” Capri said.
Another member of the wedding party tried to chase down Oliver but had to stop after the suspect got into a white truck with red interior leather and sped off.
On Sept. 24, police released video of the brawl in hopes of gathering additional information and then days later, they released a photo obtained from security footage showing the truck.
Records show by that point, they’d also located footage from a nearby business that showed Oliver and a man matching the description of the getaway driver, later identified as Daniel Leonard.
A resident who saw the photo of the truck called authorities and said they recognized the truck as belonging to Leonard, who is known to frequent the area where the fight occurred, according to the report.
Vehicle registration records proved Leonard had a truck like the one pictured and that he was the same person seen in the surveillance footage, authorities said.
Police said they met with Leonard on Monday and after that, they were able to use “various investigational techniques” to identify Oliver as a suspect. That same day, police said they also located video that showed Leonard and Oliver getting into a small fight before the larger brawl.
A photo lineup was presented to a witness who was with Burich and he was able to positively identify Oliver, telling the detective he would never forget that man’s face, according to the report.
“He’s going to have to pay for this, what he did to this poor woman," Capri said.
Oliver, 23, and Leonard, 20, were taken into custody Thursday. Oliver is facing an aggravated battery charge while Leonard is accused of principle to aggravated battery.