Other Stuff
Billy Lane charged with manslaughter in death
Florida - With four attorneys by his side, nationally known motorcycle designer
Billy Lane quietly surrendered to authorities Monday on charges his blood
alcohol was twice the legal limit during a collision that killed a 56-year-old
man on a moped.
Lane was charged with driving under the influence manslaughter, driving with his
license suspended and driving under the influence with serious bodily injuries
in connection with a Sept. 4 accident on State Road A1A, south of Melbourne
Beach.
Gerald Vernon Morelock, a Sebastian Inlet park ranger from Melbourne Beach, was
killed in the head-on collision between his moped and Lane's pickup truck.
"At the time of the crash (Lane's) license had been suspended," Florida Highway
Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller said.
Lane's case has drawn attention from motorcycling enthusiasts across the
country.
"He should have never been behind the wheel," Miller said.
After he resisted officers who tried to draw blood, Lane's blood alcohol level
tested at .192, more than twice the state's legal limit of .08, Miller said.
Lane's attorney issued a statement.
"We are currently conducting our own investigation of every aspect of this
accident, including the blood alcohol level," Melbourne attorney Kepler Funk
said.
Morelock's brother, Byron Morelock of Indialantic, praised the effort to bring
in Lane on DUI manslaughter charges. He described his brother "Jerry" as a
friendly, fun-loving man who moved to Brevard from Ohio in 1984.
"I'm relieved, but I had faith in the arresting patrolman and I have faith in
our legal system," said Byron Morelock.
"(The investigator) kept in touch with me and said the investigators were
crossing their t's and dotting their i's. I'm relieved but it's such a shame
this had to happen. There are no winners in this thing. Relieved is the wrong
word -- maybe just that some of the tension is gone."
On Monday, an FHP trooper led a handcuffed Lane out of the highway patrol's
Cocoa headquarters about 1:30 p.m. to a waiting patrol car.
Looking disheveled and staring ahead quietly, Lane was placed in the front seat
of the patrol car, then escorted to the Brevard County Jail Complex, where he
was photographed and booked into the jail. He was released within 90 minutes on
a $15,000 bond, officials said.
"That does seem low, but, unfortunately for us, we don't set the bond," Miller
said. "We would like to see a higher bond, but it's a standard bond."
Lane must surrender his passport and cannot drive, as part of the requirements
of his bond, Miller said.
Investigators said the accident happened after Lane, the custom chopper builder
featured on Discovery Channel's "Biker Build-Off" and "Monster Garage," crossed
a double yellow line to pass several other vehicles before striking Morelock's
1983 Yamaha moped.
Lane had been drinking throughout the day, according to investigators. He was at
Coconuts on the Beach Restaurant and Bar in Cocoa Beach earlier and left the
popular nightclub and headed to Cheaters, another popular nightspot, where he
had several other drinks, officials said.
Lane got on his motorcycle with a passenger identified as Erin Levens Derrick
and rode to his business, Choppers, Inc., located on the 1200 block of U.S. 1 in
Melbourne.
At the shop, Lane and his passenger got into a black, custom-painted 2006 Dodge
Ram pickup and headed toward his beachside home.
Later on State Road A1A, a two-lane highway that parallels the beach and cuts
through a residential area, Lane was spotted passing the double yellow line to
speed southbound past three vehicles on the darkened road, officials said.
Several motorists told Florida Highway Patrol investigators that they saw a
headlight in the distance belonging to the northbound moped ridden by Morelock.
Investigators said Lane saw the light, then attempted to veer east when the
pickup slammed head-on into the moped, killing Morelock instantly. The moped was
destroyed, its mangled wreckage tossed 64 feet away.
Lane's pickup trucked rolled off the road, knocking over three palm trees and
overturned into a power pole, reports show.
Brevard County Fire-Rescue paramedics arrived minutes later and found Lane,
injured but conscious, still in the driver's seat. Paramedics said they also
smelled alcohol.
Both Lane and his passenger, Derrick, were taken to Holmes Regional Medical
Center in Melbourne for treatment.
But at the hospital, Lane, still able to speak, refused a request from
investigators to draw blood. Troopers then had to hold Lane down while a nurse
took the blood sample, officials said. He went home the next day.
Investigators did not immediately file charges in the case, something that
raised the ire of family members and motorcycle bloggers on the Internet.
But agents -- who described the crash scene as one of the worst they had seen in
recent years -- turned over Lane's blood to the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement laboratory in Orlando and asked that the case be given priority.
"They actually put a rush on it, and his blood alcohol actually came back twice
the legal limit of .08," Miller said.
The deadly crash was also not the only run-in with traffic enforcement for the
celebrity biker. In June, North Carolina Highway Patrol officers arrested Lane
on drunken driving charges.
Police in that case said Lane drove on the wrong side of a two-lane road without
a helmet. Lane refused a breath test and is due in court Oct. 5 on those
charges, according to the Rowan County Clerk of Courts. His refusal to take the
breath test resulted in his license being suspended for a year.
"The police did the right thing and took their time," Byron Morelock said. "It
just goes to show that you cannot go around drinking and driving."
Contact Gallop at 242-3668 or jdgallop@flatoday.net. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20060926/NEWS01/609260328
highway 61 highway 61 highway 61 highway61 highway 61
sex biker news harley davidson custom motorcyles bikies motorcycle
shows bankstown motorcycle show strippers hard and fast