Ormond Beach, FL - The second suspect involved in a street race that killed a 73-year-old woman is finally brought into custody.
According to the Ormond Beach Police Department, 26-year-old Anthony Panos Jr. was the other driver racing 24-year-old Erik Worthington in Ormond Beach back on June 5th.
While racing up Nova Road in Ormond Beach, Worthington hit and flipped the SUV of Mary Spanos, who was turning into the northbound lanes from Shadow Lakes Boulevard, killing her.
The report released by OBPD says that Panos' 2015 Subaru WRX was just feet from Worthington's Camaro as it hit Spanos' Cadillac SUV.
Police were able to receive a copy of dash camera footage showing what happened during the crash. While watching that footage, police were able to make Panos' vehicle as well as part of the driver's body, as his arm was leaning out of his window.
They noticed that the driver had tattoos on his arm and that the Subaru had decals on its back windshield, including a decal of a turbocharger with the caption "Blow Me."
Images from the dashcam footage were sent to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office Crime Center in an attempt to get some assistance locating the Subaru. It wouldn't be long until detectives received a tag number of a Subaru that matched the images given to them.
VCSO was able to utilize photos from the owner's social media accounts. Those same photos also showed tattoos that matched those seen on the driver's arm in the dashcam footage, leading to a suspect.
While investigating the vehicle and the owner, officers learned that the vehicle had ties to the At Thee Garage off of 8th Street in Holly Hill.
At the garage, officers found a blue Subaru with a matching tag, but no decals. Although, upon further investigation, detectives saw that the vehicle's rear window had "ghost" images of decals, showing that they had been removed.
In fact, officers noticed the outline of a turbocharger decal along with the words "Blow Me," matching the description of decals on the suspect car.
Police met with the father of the driver, who said that he would be at the shop in about five minutes. That's when officers identified the driver as Panos. But, when police tried to question Panos, he said he didn't want to speak unless he had an attorney present.
A few days later, a woman reached out to the Ormond Beach Police Department and told officers that she had more information regarding the incident.
She showed OBPD investigators video of Panos and the vehicle, that was backed into a driveway just after the crash. She advised that it was the same Subaru she saw racing a Camaro on Nova Road, just before the crash that killed Spanos.
Panos is now in custody at Volusia County Jail, charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, vehicular homicide and racing on a highway.
He's held on $51,000 bond.
