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Driver sentenced to life for deadly DUI crash in 2020

By Staff | May 18, 2023

Naples – A Naples man 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 on Oct. 24, 2020.

Lukasz Jacek Ryszka was found 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 five 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.

Ryszka 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.

On Oct. 24, 2020, just before midnight, 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.

Ryszka continued driving the wrong way on County Road 881 until colliding with a minivan,carrying four women on their way to a Halloween party. The van’s driver was pronounced dead on scene and a passenger died at the hospital. Two passengers survived, with one suffering extensive serious bodily injuries.

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.

Ryszka was arrested the next morning after being discharged from the hospital.

The surviving crash victims continue to deal with the impact of the crash.

Source: State Attorney’s Office