DAYTONA BEACH SHORES — Family and friends placed flowers at a memorial June 2 for Tammie Jo Baker, the attendant who was killed a day earlier when a pickup truck smashed into her tollbooth.
Baker, 63, died at the scene despite rescue efforts.
The driver, Deanna Harrell, 35, of Ormond Beach, was taken into custody under Florida’s Baker Act while the investigation proceeds, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook June 1. The Baker Act allows someone to be involuntarily committed for evaluation if they are considered a threat to themselves or others.
Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a June 1 press conference that he smelled alcohol inside the pickup involved in the fatal crash at the Dunlawton Avenue ramp.
He was asked during the press conference whether the pickup driver was impaired.
“I can just tell you being up at the truck there’s a heavy odor, for me, a heavy odor of alcohol,” Chitwood said. “You could smell it from the passenger side of the vehicle. We’ll see how that works out.”
He told The News-Journal investigators performed a breathalyzer test on Harrell and said they would also do a blood draw.
Who was Tammie Jo Baker, the tollbooth attendant killed in Daytona Beach Shores?
Baker was a long time county employee who recently began working for a private company when it took over the toll booth operation, Chitwood said at the press conference.
“The woman is the matriarch of the family,” he added. “Something as innocuous as coming here to take tolls and you’re dead. For what? Really for what? And you know. It’s senseless. And it’s disturbing.”
Chitwood: More people could have been injured
During the press conference, Chitwood said Baker didn’t have a chance when the truck, estimated to be going about 40 mph, slammed into the booth.
“That booth isn’t made of anything, if you look at it. You hit that thing at 40 mph there’s really nowhere to go,” he said.
He said based on preliminary information, investigators believe the truck came over the Dunlawton Bridge and crossed A1A before “slamming into” the booth.
The pickup truck could have hit anyone, Chitwood said during the press conference, saying it could have “slammed into” a bicyclist, a car, someone crossing the street.
Chitwood also said that had the beach been more crowded many more people could have been injured by the speeding truck.
He praised bystanders involved in the emergency, trying to help Baker and making sure Harrell didn’t leave the scene.
Editor’s note: The spelling of the victim’s name was corrected in the subhead.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia Sheriff says he smelled alcohol in truck that hit tollbooth
Reporting by Frank Fernandez and Sheldon Gardner, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
