VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A crash late New Year’s Eve at an intersection in Deltona killed a man and left another hurt, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the crash around 11:26 p.m. at the intersection of Howland and Fort Smith boulevards, a news release states.
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Brandon Michael Morales, 24, had been traveling south on Howland Boulevard and attempted to turn left onto Fort Smith Boulevard when his car was struck by an oncoming vehicle that was headed north on Howland. The impact then caused Morales’ car to strike another northbound vehicle, this time a pickup truck, deputies said.
Morales was pronounced dead at the scene, the release states. The driver of the first vehicle that hit Morales’ car was hospitalized with minor injuries while the occupants of the pickup truck were uninjured in the crash, deputies said.
An investigation of the crash is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office noted how deputies later stopped a vehicle that drove around the blocked-off scene before 3 a.m. as the crash investigation was still in progress, avoiding such tells as a marked patrol car with flashing emergency lights.
The driver of that car, 30-year-old Bryan Morales Perez, was sobriety tested and found to be impaired, deputies said.
Perez, who returned results of 0.180 and 0.173 when breath tested, was arrested; in Florida, a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 is considered the legal limit. Perez now faces charges of driving under the influence and resisting an officer without violence; he was booked at the Volusia County Branch Jail before posting $1,500 bail and being released later that morning, according to the sheriff’s office.
To help support Perez’s family with funeral costs, you can donate to their GoFundMe page here.
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