Palm Coast man charged with DUI manslaughter in wrong-way crash that killed woman

Frank Fernandez, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·2 min read

A Palm Coast man with a prior DUI charge was drunk when he drove the wrong way on U.S. 1 in December causing a head-on crash that killed a woman, according to a charging affidavit and court records.

Joseph Michael Siano, 64, was arrested Friday and charged with DUI causing death and DUI with damage to person/property, according to a charging affidavit. Siano was being held Monday without bond on the DUI causing death charge and a $2,500 bond on the other charge.

The crash happened Dec. 16 when Siano was driving a 2019 Ram pickup truck the wrong way on southbound U.S. 1 and crashed into a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu about a mile north of Whiteview Parkway, according to a charging affidavit.

Lee-Ann Daley, the driver of the Malibu, died at the scene of the crash. Daley was 46 and had moved to Palm Coast in 2018 from New Hampshire, according to an online obituary. Daley had earned a cosmetology degree in 1998 and was a wedding hair stylist and hair dresser, according to the obituary.

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Siano had a prior arrest in 2014 on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. He pleaded no contest and was adjudicated guilty in that case.

A Florida Highway Patrol on scene at the December crash said Siano had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, according to the charging affidavit. And a paramedic said Siano was giving off a strong odor of alcoholic beverages.

Siano was injured and taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he had blood drawn.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement tested Siano’s blood and found his blood alcohol content was 0.219 and 0.220, according to the charging affidavit.

That is well over twice the legal limit of 0.08 at which a person is legally considered intoxicated.

At the hospital, Siano told a trooper that he did not remember anything about the crash. Siano, whose residence is listed on Birchwood Place, said he was driving home from Pine Lakes Country Club and got lost.

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Siano denied drinking any alcohol, the affidavit stated.

He said his eyes were “very bad” due to cataracts.

Siano said it was “all his fault” and that he should not have been driving at night.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida man charged with DUI manslaughter in wrong-way crash