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Published on Saturday, December 20, 2003
in the Daytona Beach News-Journal
PALM COAST -- A Deltona woman is in stable condition after surviving a two-car crash Wednesday that led to the arrest of an Orlando man on drug charges.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Eric Etcher said Amanda Jean Mariano, 20, was trying to complete a left turn from southbound Old Kings Road onto Utility Drive when she was hit by a car driven by Troy Johnson, 30.
Mariano was taken by the county's FireFlight helicopter to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, hospital officials said.
Johnson, a suspect in a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Narcotics investigation, was fleeing a Florida Highway Patrol traffic stop when he collided with Mariano.
He is being held in the Flagler County Inmate Facility on a $1 million blanket bond under six charges in connection with the accident and narcotics investigation.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators said they had arranged to buy a kilogram of cocaine from Johnson during a week-long investigation and found the drugs near the scene of the accident.
The most serious charge is trafficking in cocaine in excess of 1,000 grams. If convicted of that charge, Johnson could face a minimum of 15 years in prison, officials said.
Noel Griffin, an FDLE special agent supervisor, said he would have preferred a different ending to the drug bust.
"A successful apprehension with no injuries," Griffin said. "We're absolutely not happy it ended that way."
FHP Sgt. Eric Etcher said Johnson was traveling southbound on Old Kings Road from Palm Coast Parkway when he moved into the northbound lane. He was trying to pass vehicles waiting in the southbound lane for Mariano to turn left onto Utility Drive and hit Mariano as she made her turn.
Linda Hach, 55, from Ormond Beach was in the vehicle behind Mariano and said she watched the collision.
"He hit her and pushed her into the tree," Hach said.
After driving Mariano into the tree on the northbound shoulder, Johnson ran from the vehicle and threw an object into the neighboring woods, Griffin said.
FDLE officials arrested Johnson with the help of Flagler County Sheriff's Office officials and identified the object they said Johnson threw as a kilogram of cocaine.
Law enforcement officials said a kilogram of cocaine is worth between $22,000 and $100,000, depending on quality.
Johnson was taken by ambulance to Florida Hospital-Flagler, where he was treated and released for minor injuries, then booked into the Flagler County Inmate Facility.