NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — A man who was on probation for DUI manslaughter is back in jail accused of crashing into a woman with his electric bike.
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The Neptune Beach Police Department arrested David Gallagher, he’s charged with reckless driving and disorderly intoxication; he was already on probation for DUI manslaughter from 2013.
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“To me it was a matter of time for what happened here on First street,” Bill Fieldson said.
Neptune Beach neighbors like Fieldson say electric bikes are becoming an issue and it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. Gallagher is accused of crashing into a 34-year-old woman with his E-Bike and his arrest report says officers could smell alcohol on his breath, adding that he was slurring his speech, had red, watery eyes with a flushed face and didn’t remember being on the e-bike and had to be reminded several times.
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The report said the woman had bruises and road rash.
“The young man who caused the accident, his parents came they put the bike in the back of their truck and tried to put him in the truck,” Fieldson said. “She was on the curb, off the street, she had been hit but I didn’t see it apparently she went up in the air.”
The arrest comes as NBPD said it’s been working traffic enforcement campaigns in the area since August to try and prevent anything dangerous from happening. It should be noted Neptune Beach has a municipal city ordinance that says electric bikes can’t be driven in a reckless manner.
Neptune Beach neighbors said people are riding electric bikes and scooters dangerously. Action News Jax crews saw several people riding through stop signs at a fast rate of speed when we were in the area.
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“They’re going faster than a car or golf cart and they’re not stopping, they’re not looking,” Fieldson said.
Neighbors like Fieldson want more patrols in the area.
“I don’t think people feel like they’ll be held accountable. I think this is a track meet for people on e-bikes,” he said. “The perfect world would be, have someone out here patrolling.”
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Action News Jax reached out to Gallagher’s attorney for a comment and for why he was released from prison early but didn’t hear back by the time this article was published. Action News Jax also spoke with Neptune Beach Police Chief, Michael Key on the phone, he said they’ve seen a lot of complaints online about electric bikes and they’re trying to get ahead of it, adding that it also takes the public to obey the laws.
Gallagher was on probation for DUI manslaughter from 2013 after he was convicted of hitting and killing Joseph Davidson. He was sentenced to sentenced to 10 years and four months in prison and was released roughly two-and-a-half years early. The crash was in 2012 when investigators said he drove drunk and crashed into Davidson, who was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked truck. That arrest report said Gallagher was going at least 66mph at the time of impact.
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