SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was arrested, accused of DUI manslaughter, following his involvement in a wreck that left two motorcyclists dead in Seminole County on Saturday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred around 8:10 p.m. on State Road 46 near Rest Haven Road, forcing SR-46 to be closed in the Geneva area for several hours.
According to an FHP crash report, the motorcyclists — 65-year-old Richard Mills and his passenger, 61-year-old Joanne Talley, both of Geneva — were traveling westbound on SR-46 ahead of a pickup truck. The truck was being driven by Michael Lawrence Thompson, 40, of Sanford, who had a 9-year-old Sanford girl with him in a passenger seat, the report states.
As the motorcycle was stopped to make a left turn into a driveway, Thompson allegedly failed to observe the vehicle and then rear-ended it. Mills and Talley fell off the bike as a result, troopers said.
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The driver of an SUV traveling westbound noticed the crash and parked on the south shoulder to tend to the motorcyclists and to the occupants of the pickup truck, according to FHP.
As the SUV’s occupants were exiting the vehicle, an 81-year-old Geneva man driving a pickup truck westbound failed to observe the wreck in enough time, troopers said. In the man’s attempt to take evasive action, the pickup truck he was driving struck the motorcycle, the SUV and the other pickup truck, traveling off the roadway onto the south shoulder, the report states.
The motorcyclists were pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. The occupants of the first pickup truck were not injured in the crash and the 81-year-old man was hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries, according to FHP.
Troopers say Thompson’s eyes were watery and glassy, and he had a strong odor of alcohol. He declined to take a field sobriety test and said he was not willing to provide a breath sample.
Thompson was arrested to face two counts of DUI manslaughter, records show. He was booked into the Seminole County jail and was being held without bond. A judge set bond for $51,000. He is not allowed to have alcohol or drugs and will need to submit to random testing if he bonds out of jail.
Michelle Winn works at The Alibi, a bar and grill in Geneva, and she knew both Talley and Mills as customers.
“They’re part of our family here,” Winn said. “I’ve worked here 5 and half years, you know, people come and go all the time but they’re family, and this bar it’s always been about that.”
Winn said Talley was a ‘light in the building’ while Mills was funny.
“Those two, it was so cute. They loved each other so much,” Winn said.
FHP is still investigating.
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