A bicyclist was killed in Key West. The SUV driver who hit him was on meth, prosecutors say
.jpg "A Key West woman is charged with DUI manslaughter in the March 2022 fatal crash that killed a 21-year-old man riding a bicycle.")
A 34-year-old Key West woman was charged Thursday with DUI manslaughter for crashing her SUV into a 21-year-old bicyclist on the Overseas Highway while high on methamphetamine, prosecutors said.
Olivia Karol Binek Thibodeaux on Friday remained in the county jail on a $325,000 bond, a day after her arrest in connection with the March 4 crash at mile marker 5 just north of the Key Haven neighborhood outside Key West, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
It was not immediately clear if she had legal representation.
Michael Diezel III, of Franklin, North Carolina, was bike-riding with his father at 12:35 p.m. on the southbound shoulder of U.S. 1 when Binek swerved a white 2014 BMW X3 into his path, according to the arrest affidavit.
The BMW’s right rear door slammed into Diezel’s front and right side and he was thrown to the ground.
Diezel suffered a fractured cervical spine and a laceration to his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene, in a “near instant fatality,” the Monroe County medical examiner reported. He was not wearing a helmet, according to a press release from FHP.
“Nobody cut her off,” said Joseph Mansfield, chief assistant attorney in Monroe County. “There were no intervening causes. There were drugs in her system.”
During the interview immediately after the crash, “Binek had watery eyes, was restless throughout the conversation and rocked her torso backward and forward while placing her hands on her head several times,” the affidavit said.
About to graduate from college
Diezel, who was due to graduate from college, was in the Keys to visit his father, Mansfield said. He had turned 21 in February and was attending Western Carolina University, according to a family GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral costs.
The father and son were headed to a fishing spot that Friday afternoon when Binek crossed their path.
Diezel’s father was able to avoid crashing by getting his bike down a hill off the shoulder and ditching the bike, Mansfield said.
“He yelled to his son, but it was too late,” Mansfield said Friday.
Prosecutors said Binek was in the outside lane of U.S. 1 at mile marker 5 while Diezel was headed north on the paved sidewalk of the southbound shoulder of the highway.
Binek couldn’t keep the BMW in its lane and began to drift over to the southbound right-turn lane, the affidavit said. She “then abruptly swerved the BMW” back into the outside travel lane.
“She swerved and corrected herself moments before,” Mansfield said. “The father reported hearing that swerve and it drew his attention.”
Binek swerved again and this time went into a side skid, blocking Diezel on his bike. Diezel hit his head on the roof of the passenger door, Mansfield said.
Driver didn’t use brakes, witness said
A witness who was traveling behind the BMW said Binek did not use the brakes at any time during the crash, according to the affidavit.
“Binek had approximately two and a half times the necessary distance to stop the BMW prior to entering the southbound shoulder the second time and striking Michael Diezel III,” the affidavit said.
The arrest comes more than three months after the fatal crash because Florida Highway Patrol and the Monroe County State Attorney’s office had to complete a full investigation, Mansfield said.
That included toxicology tests, a mechanical inspection of the BMW, which showed that “while mechanical and electronic faults existed in the BMW, nothing would have caused the vehicle to steer on its own, lose steering control, or prevent braking,” according to the affidavit.
Driver’s report came back positive for drugs, feds say
After the crash, Binek agreed to a blood sample, which came back from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as testing positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine, the affidavit said.
The toxicology results were “consistent with recreational drug use and were sufficient to impair the driving ability of Binek,” according to Dr. Bruce Goldberger, technical and administrative director of the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at the University of Florida, the affidavit said.
Binek is charged with DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and misrepresentation of insurance. She gave a GEICO proof of insurance card to law enforcement at the time of the crash. But her policy had been canceled in December 2021 after she missed payments.
Binek owns the Raw Machine, a vegetarian food truck she opened in 2018. Its latest location is 1225 Duval St. But it wasn’t clear Friday whether the business is still open.
The phone number wasn’t in service Friday and its website was down.
In 2019, a feature story in a local weekly newspaper described Binek as “an island transplant from Poland who bartended her way to her current, modern day girl boss status,” after buying and customizing a 1976 Airstream.
At the time, Binek was working late-night shifts at a local bar three days a week while running the truck six days a week, the paper reported.
“It’s tough. I don’t sleep,” she told Florida Weekly. “I thought once I started my business I would stop bartending, but that’s how I was able to pay for the camper in the first place.”
Diezel “always had a smiling face and never met a stranger he could not make a friend out of,” his obituary said.
He was personable, kind and selfless, his sister Victoria Trottman wrote on the GoFundMe page, which was disabled after raising $13,100.
Trottman wrote, “My family is devastated and at a loss of words for losing someone so amazing, so pure, and so young.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 5:26 PM with the headline "A bicyclist was killed in Key West. The SUV driver who hit him was on meth, prosecutors say."
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