June Edna George Obituary, Death; – A man from Dunnellon is facing charges of DUI manslaughter and DUI with property damage following a two-vehicle accident in September that resulted in the death of a woman and serious injuries to her husband.
Joseph Robert Spano, aged 39, was operating a Toyota Corolla at the time of the incident, as reported by the Florida Highway Patrol. June Edna George, 69, from Dunnellon, lost her life in the crash, while her 74-year-old husband is currently in recovery from his injuries.
According to law enforcement, Spano was traveling eastbound on County Road 484 when the collision occurred. George’s husband was driving a Mercury SUV with his wife as a passenger, heading west on the same road.
The accident transpired when Spano attempted to make a left turn onto Southwest 110th Avenue, resulting in a collision between the two vehicles. Officials stated that the woman was ejected from her vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Drugs Recovered
Witnesses reported that following the crash, a man and a woman, later identified as Spano and 40-year-old Goldie Elizabeth McDowell of Dunnellon, exited their vehicle and fled into a nearby wooded area carrying bags and a briefcase.
Deputies were summoned and successfully located the pair in the woods. Upon detaining them, law enforcement conducted a search of the bags, discovering multiple forms of identification, including credit cards, as well as drugs.
The identifications were linked to a deceased elderly woman who had no connection to either Spano or McDowell, according to officials. Troopers were unable to determine whether the expired identifications had been used fraudulently. The substances recovered were forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory for analysis.
Testing
Officials from the Florida Highway Patrol indicated that Spano voluntarily provided a blood sample for testing at the FDLE. Last month, the results revealed that Spano’s blood contained traces of cocaine. The troopers subsequently sent these results to a toxicology laboratory at the University of Florida for further analysis, where it was concluded that the cocaine contributed to Spano’s impairment, according to law enforcement.
Based on these findings, troopers believed they had sufficient evidence to arrest Spano. In addition to the charge of DUI manslaughter, Spano is also facing other charges.
