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Driver arrested in crash that killed vacationing family

Posted at 9:15 AM, Jul 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-19 11:31:43-04

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. -- A man suspected of causing a crash that killed a family in a 2015 crash has been arrested.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested 26-year-old James Geoffrey Dameron after he fled from troopers attempting to stop his vehicle on the Florida Turnpike Tuesday afternoon.

FHP says troopers located Dameron with the help of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office as he traveled with his half-brother, southbound on the Florida Turnpike.

Dameron had an active warrant related to a triple fatal crash that occurred on September 6, 2015, as well as an additional warrant in Seminole County.

FHP says on September 6, 2015, Dameron was driving a 2010 Mercedes SUV southbound on the turnpike at a high rate of speed, when he rear ended a 2001 Nissan Maxima. Both cars caught fire and 23-year-old Thomas Garza, 20-year-old Lillian Luna, and 1-year-old Brianna Garza from Moultrie, Georgia were killed in the crash. The family was traveling to Walt Disney World to celebrate their daughter's first birthday.

A warrant was issued for Dameron for three counts of vehicular homicide and driving while license suspended, involved in a death.

FHP says at the time he was arrested, Dameron had wrapped copper and tin foil around an ankle monitor on his left leg. Drugs were also located in the car, troopers say.

Both James Geoffrey Dameron and Joseph Kiernan IV were arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail.