SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A motorcyclist was hospitalized in critical condition Saturday evening as the driver accused of rear-ending them on Interstate 4 in Seminole County — with westbound lanes shut down for several hours as a result — was arrested to face criminal charges including DUI, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Edwin Amaya Reyes, 30, was arrested around 11 p.m. after Seminole County deputies found him hiding in a wooded area southwest of the crash, which occurred about an hour earlier in the westbound lanes at mile marker 104 (U.S. 17-92), according to his arrest report.
A witness told troopers that he was riding his motorcycle with the victim when the victim pulled off to the shoulder prior to where the crash occurred, the report states. The witness recounted initially continuing westbound, then pulling over as well to wait, according to the report.
As the victim eventually got back onto I-4, observed the witness ahead, and slowed down while waving him back on the interstate, the witness said he saw the victim get rear-ended by a Nissan Altima.
Investigators observed the Altima was left a significant distance from where the motorcycle had overturned. The car had blood splatter across the roof and damage to the hood suggesting it rear-ended the motorcycle at high speed, running over the bike while the rider became airborne, the report states.
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office reported to troopers that the driver and a passenger of the Altima ran away from the scene, according to FHP. A sheriff’s-office drone was used to locate Amaya Reyes, who law enforcement determined was driving the Nissan, and the passenger was later found underneath I-4 on Orange Boulevard, troopers said.
A trooper spoke with Amaya Reyes through a translating deputy, according to the report. After telling the troopers he was on his way home from work and was in the left lane when the crash occurred — which troopers said was inconsistent with physical evidence — he allegedly wouldn’t admit to leaving the scene despite being found in the woods, the report states.
“He indicated people told him to leave after the crash,” troopers said.
Amaya Reyes had a smell of alcohol about him, glassy and bloodshot eyes, “a distinct orbital sway while standing still,” and performed poorly in field-sobriety exercises, according to FHP.
It was further determined that Amaya Reyes never had a driver’s license and had a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles placeholder number assigned, the report states, adding he was identified by his Guatemalan passport.
At the Seminole County Jail, Amaya Reyes agreed to take a breath test that showed he had a BAC of .215, more than twice the legal limit in Florida, according to the report.
The victim was last reported in critical, unstable condition, troopers said.
Amaya Reyes was arrested to face charges of DUI with serious bodily injury to another, driving without license causing serious injury and failure to stop or remain at a crash involving serious bodily injury, the report states. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified to place an immigration detainer after his processing at the jail, troopers said.