A 44-year-old Bartow man was killed when a pickup truck pulled in front of his motorcycle on State Road 60 on June 12 in Plant City, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The pickup driver is facing DUI manslaughter charges.
The motorcycle, driven by Ryon Jay Hartwig, was traveling west on State Road 60 near Clarence Gordon Jr. Road at 6:45 p.m., about four miles west of the Polk County line. At that time, a GMC Sierra driven by Santiago Ruiz Rangel, 59, of Mulberry pulled onto the road from a private driveway, according to court documents.
As the truck exited the driveway, it entered the path of the Harley Davidson, the FHP said. Hartwig suffered fatal injuries at the scene of the crash.
In court documents, the State Attorney’s Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit said FHP troopers found Ruiz Rangel standing beside the pickup truck exhibiting signs of impairment. During a sworn interview, he admitted to driving the truck and to drinking four beers, the last one at 6 p.m., according to the documents.
Ruiz Rangel was arrested on DUI manslaughter charges and taken to the Hillsborough County Jail.
He had a blood alcohol content of 0.170%, the FHP said. The legal BAC limit in Florida is 0.08%.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Mulberry man charged with DUI manslaughter in deadly SR 60 crash
Reporting by Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
