PANAMA CITY — Three witnesses saw an Arkansas man speeding through stop signs moments before a collision Saturday afternoon that caused the death of a Panama City Beach woman, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports.
The collision at the intersection of Beach Drive and Upas Street sent the Mercedes-Benz convertible containing 31-year-old Tara Marie Ashley careening about 50 feet before coming to a halt. Shaun Michael Gaiser, the driver of the convertible, said he thought the Chevy S-10 truck that hit them was going about 15 mph over the posted speed limit of 25 but did not see it until the crash Saturday at about 4 p.m., FHP reported.
The Mercedes sustained disabling damage from the t-bone collision to the passenger side. The passenger side door was in the passenger seat when officers arrived. As FHP interviewed witnesses to the wreck, Ashley was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Both vehicles contained a passenger and a driver. The driver of the Chevy, 23-year-old Adam Brian Bailey, was later charged with vehicular manslaughter. He told officers he was driving about 40 mph west on Beach Drive to meet a girl before the crash, but he didn’t see the stop sign at Upas Street.
However, other drivers and residents near the scene of the collision told officers Bailey was driving recklessly beforehand.
One motorist said the Chevy almost ran her off the road while it turned left onto Beach Drive from Raven Street. Two Beach Drive residents said they saw the truck run the two preceding stop signs before the crash at Upas Street “in excess of three times the posted speed limit,” FHP said.
Gaiser was not injured, and Bailey and his passenger, 28-year-old Roddy Jay Bologh of Brandon, sustained minor injuries and were taken to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health Center.
Bailey had his first appearance before Judge Joe Grammer Monday.