Toll attendant killed after pickup crashes through Daytona Beach Shores booth, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says
PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A toll attendant was killed Monday after a pickup truck crashed through a beach ramp toll booth and into the ocean in Daytona Beach Shores, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
The crash happened around 12:40 p.m. at the Dunlawton Avenue beach access ramp.
[BELOW: Volusia County sheriff discusses fatal crash]
According to deputies, the pickup was traveling eastbound on Dunlawton Avenue when it struck the occupied toll booth. The truck then continued onto the beach and into the ocean.
The toll attendant inside the booth, 63-year-old Tammie Jo Baker, was killed.
“I think she was probably close to being killed on impact,” Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “That booth isn’t made of anything, if you look at it. And you hit that thing at 40 miles an hour; there’s really nowhere to go. And it flipped the booth around, the force of that.”
Scene of the incident on Monday, June 1 (Volusia Sheriff’s Office)
The driver, identified as 36-year-old Deanna Harrell of Ormond Beach, has been detained while investigators conduct a thorough crash investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Chitwood says witnesses saw Harrell drive the truck into the ocean and then try to drive south on the beach before the vehicle got stuck in the sand.
Later Monday evening, deputies said that Harrell had been taken into custody under Florida’s Baker Act as the homicide continues.
Court records show that Harrell was placed under a temporary risk protection order after allegedly threatening to end her own life last year. That order was apparently set to expire in July.
[BELOW: Woman arrested after allegedly driving truck into beach toll booth, killing worker]
Harrell is also being tested for alcohol intoxication.
“I can just tell you, being up at the truck, there’s a heavy odor — for me — a heavy odor of alcohol you can smell from the passenger side of the vehicle,” Chitwood stated. “We’ll see how that works out.”
Additional details from the investigation will be released as they become available.
The Dunlawton beach access ramp will remain closed until further notice.
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