Boca Raton fatal crash leads to manslaughter charge after driver tests above DUI limit

BOCA RATON — A 28-year-old Broward County man is facing a DUI manslaughter charge following his arrest this week in connection to a four-vehicle crash that killed one person and seriously injured another in Boca Raton.

Duane Williamson of Deerfield Beach had a blood-alcohol level that was nearly three times above the threshold for intoxication in the March 18 wreck that killed Deron Lopez, 19, of Boca Raton, city police alleged in arresting him.

Williamson remained in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail as of Thursday afternoon, jail records showed.

During a hearing Wednesday, Circuit Judge Kirk Volker appointed a public defender to represent Williamson, who also faces a charge of DUI causing bodily injury, and set his bail at $330,000. Volker ordered that Williamson be placed on in-house arrest and fitted with an ankle monitor if he is released.

As a policy, the public defender's office does not comment on open cases.

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Police allege driver ran red light seconds before wreck

Traffic homicide investigators say Williamson was speeding and ran a red light at southbound Dixie Highway at the intersection of Palmetto Park Road just before 2:30 a.m. when his 2006 Audio station wagon crashed into a 2021 Honda Civic that was traveling east on Palmetto.

According to a city police arrest report, a blood-alcohol test showed that he had 0.213 grams of ethanol per 100 milliliters in his system in the hours after the crash. Florida's legal threshold for intoxication is 0.08.

Investigators say the impact of the collision caused the Honda to rotate and strike the front bumper of a Nissan SUV that was stopped at the light on northbound Dixie. A fourth vehicle that was directly behind the Nissan was struck by debris from the Honda, according to the crash report.

One other person received trauma care after wreck

Lopes, 19, of Boca Raton, was a backseat passenger in the Honda and died at the scene. A 16-year-old girl who was driving the Honda was taken to Delray Medical Center as a trauma patient. Another passenger went to West Boca Medical Center with minor injuries.

Williamson received treatment for major injuries at Delray Medical. An officer who responded to the scene described Williamson as having the smell of alcohol on his breath and glassy, bloodshot eyes.

After he was taken to the hospital, an investigator requested that a blood draw be taken. In addition to the presence of alcohol, the blood draw also revealed that traces of delta-9-THC, the active substance in marijuana, were in Williamson's system, according to his arrest report.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DUI manslaughter charge facing driver in Boca Raton fatal crash