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Judge denies bail for woman accused in Selmon crash that killed three

 
Amber Perera, the driver accused in a crash on the Selmon Expressway last week that killed a couple and their daughter, leaves the courtroom after being denied bail Wednesday in Tampa. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
Amber Perera, the driver accused in a crash on the Selmon Expressway last week that killed a couple and their daughter, leaves the courtroom after being denied bail Wednesday in Tampa. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
Published Aug. 17, 2017

TAMPA — As gruesome images of burned bodies flashed across the screen, Amber Perera put her head down on the desk and cried.

Last week, authorities say, the 29-year-old Brandon woman caused a chain reaction crash on the Leroy Selmon Expressway that caused a Hyundai sedan to burst into flames, killing a couple and their young daughter. Now, in Hillsborough County courtroom, Perera was getting her first look at the aftermath.

Her attorney argued at Wednesday's bail hearing that Perera had daily seizures and experienced one right before the crash, causing her to lose control. Prosecutors say she was under the influence of prescription medication.

Whichever account is true, Circuit Judge Margaret Taylor decided, Perera should not be released on bail.

"Either path you go, you still end up at the same point, and that is the defendant is a danger to this community," Taylor said. "I'm blown away that somebody ... who has a seizure every single day would think it would be okay to drive."

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Police arrested Perera after the Thursday afternoon crash that killed Luiz Felipak of Tampa and, pending confirmation from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, his wife Rita Felipak and their 8-year-old daughter, Giorgia. The mother and daughter were burned beyond recognition.

Perera is charged with 10 counts including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and destroying evidence. At Wednesday's four-hour hearing, while tearful loved ones of Perera and the Felipaks watched from a cramped gallery, witnesses recounted the day of the crash.

Aaron Despain said he was driving east when a black Kia blew by him at about 90 miles per hour. He said he watched as the Kia slammed into the back of another eastbound sedan, causing the sedan to cross the median and collide with an SUV and a Jeep. The Kia also slid into the grassy median, then the driver appeared to regain control and kept going at a high rate of speed, Despain said.

Despain followed the Kia for about two miles until he saw a wheel or tire fly off and the driver stopped. Despain pulled up behind the sedan and watched as the driver, later identified as Perera, got out of the car, surveyed the damage, then got back in. She emerged again and walked back to Despain, staggering or limping, he said.

"She asked if I knew what happened and said, 'I had a seizure,'" Despain said. He said she appeared "subdued and dazed."

Tampa police Detective Jacob Gonzalez testified that Perera told a paramedic and police that she remembers driving at normal speed, then waking to find her airbag had deployed. She said she knew what day it was and that Trump was president but wasn't sure if she was in Tampa or St. Petersburg. She said she suffered from seizures and anxiety attacks and took prescribed doses of Lexapro and Ativan, an anti-anxiety medication, that morning.

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Gonzalez said Perera failed two gaze tests for impairment and performed poorly on the walk-and-turn and one-leg stand field sobriety exercises. While she was in the back of the patrol car, he noticed her laying down, moaning as her head bobbed and her body "wriggled." He asked what happened and she said she'd had a seizure caused by "anxiety." He placed her under arrest and drove her to Tampa General Hospital.

Gonzalez got a warrant for a blood draw and returned about 9 p.m. Afterward, he said, Perera placed the vials in her underwear when no one was looking. When confronted by police, she produced them, he said.

Perera's attorney, Hubbell Losson, earlier told the Tampa Bay Times that Perera was diagnosed last fall with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. On Wednesday, he called to the stand India McCluney, a paralegal at the Stopa Law Firm in Tampa. Until last week, Perera worked there, also as a paralegal. McCluney said Perera had two seizures in short succession before lunch the day of the crash. She did not appear impaired, McCluney said.

On cross-examination, Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon asked McCluney why she didn't speak up when a Tampa police investigator came to the firm on Monday and asked employees if Perera had a seizure on Thursday. McCluney answered that she wasn't asked directly by police, then a moment later said she confirmed Perera did.

Harmon pounced on that apparent inconsistency, noting that McCluney spoke with Perera's partner about the seizures after the crash.

"Ma'am isn't it true she did not have a seizure?" Harmon asked, prompting gasps from members of Perera's family

Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon dismissed the idea Perera had a seizure before the crash, noting she was able to regain control of her car "like some kind of NASCAR driver" and speed away, stopping only because her tire came off. He called Perera "a menace to the community."

"This woman has erased an entire family from the face of the earth," Harmon said.

Hubbell argued that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to show Perera was driving under the influence. He said Perera has support of her family and only one prior conviction, for driving without a valid license. He asked Taylor to release her with a driving restriction.

"My client does not present a threat to the community," he said.

Just before announcing her ruling, Taylor said she didn't know which was worse, "To take a bunch of medication and get so impaired and then take out a family ... or if you're stone cold sober and have seizure and yet you still choose to get in a car and drive."

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.