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Bail Set At $300,000 In '02 Fatal DUI Case

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By LISA A. DAVIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - When he was first questioned about the crash that killed a 45-year-old woman in May 2002, Landon Lane Luepkes told police he had recently hit something but it was a "large dog."

Back then, New Port Richey police were just beginning to mount their case against Luepkes, the stepson of then-County Commissioner Peter Altman. Luepkes' 1994 Dodge pickup fit the description of the vehicle that hit Dawn Haywood as she tried to cross U.S. 19 the evening of May 8, officials said.

New Port Richey police learned that Luepkes took a truck to a body shop in Tarpon Springs and had work done "to conceal the damage caused by the accident," states an arrest warrant signed by a Pasco judge in 2002.

Police say Luepkes, now 47, struck and killed Haywood in the hit-and-run accident on U.S. 19.

Luepkes and a passenger, Richard Komendat, had been drinking alcohol throughout that day and were leaving a video store when Haywood was hit, the warrant states.

DNA had been found on the truck and was still being processed at the time by a crime lab, said Assistant Chief Darryl Garman. Traffic homicide investigator Keith Campbell told Luepkes that if the DNA matched Haywood's, he would be arrested, Garman recalled.

"That's when he took off and left the state," Garman said.

'America's Most Wanted'

Campbell continued working the case. In February, it was featured on "America's Most Wanted."

The TV show's Web site says Luepkes was caught in Wise County, Va., on Sept. 27 after someone reported a suspicious person sitting cross-legged on a road near High Knob Recreation Park in the Jefferson National Forest.

Wise County sheriff's deputies found the man walking down the road with his shirt rolled up and in his mouth. When they asked him for identification, according to "America's Most Wanted," he handed them his expired Florida license, and they soon learned he was a fugitive.

Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Tobin said Luepkes fought extradition, which is why it took months for him to arrive in Pasco.

Pasco deputies returned him to face charges of DUI manslaughter and failure to appear on a previous DUI charge.

"We are thrilled," Garman said of Luepkes' return. "This has been a long time coming."

Initially, bail was set at $11,013, the original amount requested by a judge five years ago.

Prosecutors on Wednesday sought more security during their motion to revoke bail hearing at the West Pasco Judicial Center, and argued that Luepkes is a flight risk.

Assistant State Attorney Neil O'Brien argued that in addition to being a flight risk, the charges involve death and warrant more than the original bail.

Judge Agrees With Prosecutors

Dressed in an orange and white jail uniform, Luepkes addressed Circuit Judge Daniel D. Diskey by video conference from the Land O' Lakes Jail.

"I ain't going nowhere, sir," Luepkes said. "I'm taking care of this, so help me God."

"I'd like to believe that, sir," Diskey told him, looking at Luepkes' failure to appear history, his many years on the run and his several prison sentences on mostly fraud and grand theft charges.

"Please let me keep my bond," Luepkes begged.

Diskey said he agreed with prosecutors that Luepkes is a flight risk and set bail at $300,000.

Luepkes isn't the only person in his family to have a run-in with the law.

On Dec. 6, 1997, his brother Shane was driving on State Road 54 when he struck John C. Balazs Jr. and Maryann Rose Fawcett as they walked on the road.

They wore dark clothes and had their backs to traffic.

Balazs died instantly and Fawcett an hour later.

Shane Luepkes didn't stop, but his damaged truck displayed the evidence and he turned himself in days later.

He was convicted and sentenced to a year of weekends in jail, 15 years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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