Lukasz Jacek Ryszka will be transferred out of county jail, to a Florida Department of Corrections prison, to start serving his life sentence for a deadly DUI crash. He was
adjudicated guilty and sentenced to life in prison for each of two counts of DUI Manslaughter and two counts of Vehicular Homicide. He was also sentenced to 5 years in prison for DUI Serious Bodily Injury and for Reckless Driving Causing Serious Bodily Injury and given credit time served for DUI Damage Person/Property. He was convicted in March, following a Collier County trial.
Assistant State Attorney Mara Marzano of the Homicide Unit and Assistant State Attorney Tammera Wilson prosecuted the case.
The crimes happened on October 24, 2020, just before midnight, in Collier County, as the defendant left a bar and drove his Toyota pick-up truck, at high-speed, into oncoming traffic, going southbound in the northbound lane of County Road 881. Multiple witnesses called 911, as they saw the truck driving recklessly, in the wrong direction, for almost 10 miles.
The defendant continued the reckless path until colliding with a minivan, carrying four women on their way to a Halloween party. The driver was pronounced dead on scene and a passenger died at the hospital. Two passengers survived, with one suffering extensive serious bodily injuries.
The Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene of the crash. Collier County Fire Rescue had to cut the wreckage away to remove the defendant from the driver’s seat of his truck.
A voluntary blood draw was done at the hospital at the request of an FHP Trooper and the defendant’s medical blood alcohol level, an hour after the crash, was .222 up to .26, more than double the legal limit. He was also slurring his speech and smelled like alcohol, according to law enforcement. The defendant was arrested the next morning after being discharged from the hospital.
The surviving crash victims continue to deal with the impact of the crash.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office