Crash that killed motorcyclist brings DUI manslaughter charge for Boca Raton man

BOCA RATON — A 59-year-old Boca Raton man is facing a DUI manslaughter charge after a crash along Yamato Road that killed a motorcyclist last November.

Separate blood draws on the night Eric Brown died showed Miguel Oduardo had blood-alcohol levels of 0.206 and 0.140, both above Florida's legal threshold of 0.08 for intoxication, according to a city police report.

Circuit Judge Kirk Volker set Oduardo's bail at $50,000 during a hearing Thursday at the Palm Beach County Jail. Volker also ordered that Oduardo be placed on house arrest and fitted with an ankle monitor upon his release.

Oduardo, who police arrested Wednesday, remained in custody as of Friday morning. A message left for his attorney Thursday was not immediately returned.

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According to an arrest report, the crash took place at about 8 p.m. Nov. 27 as Oduardo was attempting to turn left from eastbound Yamato Road onto northbound Northwest Fifth Avenue, near Interstate 95.

Police investigators say Oduardo failed to yield as he turned, crashing his Toyota Tundra pickup into Brown's westbound Kawasaki motorcycle and throwing Brown to the pavement. The bike was lying in the middle of the road when a second vehicle struck it.

An ambulance drove Brown, 40, of suburban Boca Raton to Delray Medical Center, where he died, the report said. Neither Oduardo or the second driver was injured.

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Oduardo, listed in the report as the owner of a fencing company, told investigators he had drank a couple of beers at a friend's house that evening after working all day at a construction site. He told investigators he was driving home at the time of crash.

Oduardo said he did not see any vehicles or headlights as he was turning. DNA evidence collected to the pickup's steering wheel showed that Oduardo was a likely match, the report said.

An officer noted that Oduardo's eyes appeared to be "red and glassy" and that his speech was slurred. His breath also smelled of alcohol, the report said.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton man facing DUI manslaughter charge in motorcyclist's death