BOCA RATON, Fla. — Boca Raton police said a New Jersey man suspected of driving under the influence "had no idea" he had hit and killed a bicyclist over the weekend.
Thomas Vayianos, 35, of Brick, New Jersey, is facing a charge of DUI manslaughter with a vehicle causing death to a human.
According to Vayianos' newly released arrest report, a Boca Raton police officer responded to the 1400 block of North Ocean Boulevard just before 7:45 a.m. Sunday and found the body of a bicyclist, identified as 41-year-old Felipe Soares de Moraes, facedown on the shoulder of A1A.
Nearby, Vayianos was sitting with his 2019 Chevy Equinox, and Soares de Moraes' bicycle was "embedded" in the front bumper of the SUV, police said.
Another bicyclist told the Boca Raton police officer that he was riding his bike northbound on A1A in the marked bicycle lane just after 7 a.m. when the Equinox drove past him "so closely he could touch the vehicle."
The bicyclist said he saw the SUV swerving and then strike Soares de Moraes — who was riding his bike up ahead in the bicycle lane — from behind. The impact sent Soares de Moraes flying off his bike. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
WPTV's Kayla McDermott spoke with a woman who was driving home on North Ocean Blvd. when she spotted the cyclist. She says she called 911 and tried to help the cyclist. She returned to the scene on Monday to pay her respects and says she will never forget what she saw.
"Oh god, it was horrible, so right then I just did a prayer," she said. "I could see the body, he was facedown in the dirt."
"What was the prayer?" asked McDermott.
"I said El Padre Nuestro in Spanish, that’s all I could do. Now that I know his name hopefully it helped," she said.
According to the arrest report, when the officer spoke to Vayianos, he said, "I'm worried about the Hotel people," and repeatedly made references to "the hotel" and "hotel people."
Vayianos had pinpoint pupils, was unsteady on his feet, and "had to be asked questions multiple times as he would either not answer the question at all or go off-topic with seemingly unrelated matters," the report said.
The officer said Vayianos told him he's in rehab and said "he had no idea he struck a bicyclist," the arrest report stated.
"When I asked again if he remembered the crash Thomas began to explain an incident that occurred in Vermont where he 'tapped someone,'" the report said.
Vayianos told the officer he's currently taking Adderall and Vyvanse, which are medications used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, along with the anti-seizure medication Gabapentin. He said he last took the drugs "last night after midnight," and he thought it was 10:30 a.m. "as that was his check-out time from the hotel," the report said.
Boca Raton police said Vayianos failed multiple field sobriety tests and was taken into custody.
In court Monday, a judge set Vayianos' bond at $150,000 and ordered him to have no contact with the family of the victim or witnesses, as well as no access to alcohol, illegal drugs, non-prescription drugs, and weapons. He must also undergo random drug testing.
WPTV spoke with Michael Simon, president of the Boca Raton Bicycle Club. He says he knows of several cyclists killed just this year.
"We are losing riders for fear they don't want to get hit," he said.
People told WPTV one of their top concerns is how small the bike lane is here, and the city confirmed that they and FDOT are working to expand the bike lane by about five to six feet in upcoming years.
