Mental examination ordered for student who attacked staff member

The student, 17-yearold Brendan Depa, has been charged as an adult and faces up to 30 years in prison.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

A Flagler County judge has ordered the Matanzas High School special education student charged in a Feb. 21 attack on a school paraprofessional to undergo a mental examination to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

Brendan Depa, 17, is being charged as an adult and has pleaded not guilty. His public defender filed on March 3 for the court to order the examination.

Judge Terence Perkins issued the order on the same day, according to court documents.

A document submitted on March 2 by Depa’s lawyer said Depa does not appear to understand the nature of his charges or the legal process, and has previously been evaluated, undergone treatment and been prescribed medication for psychological issues. He had been arrested after severely injuring Matanzas High School paraprofessional Joan Naydich on Feb. 21.

Matanzas High School surveillance footage showed Depa — 6 foot, 6 inches and weighing about 270 pounds, according to his arrest report — shove Naydich across a hallway, knocking her uncon- scious, then repeatedly stomp on her and punch her in the head.

He had previously been charged with first-degree misdemeanor battery three times over the course of 2019 in Hillsborough County, and had completed a juvenile diversion alternative program, according to court records.

Depa is being held at a Jacksonville detention facility on $1 million bond and has a pretrial court date scheduled for 2:30 p.m. April 5 at the Flagler County courthouse.

A felony charge of aggravated battery on an educational employee is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Email Sierra Williams at sierra@observerlocalnews. com.

Spradley, Belhumeur join the Flagler Beach City Commission

Scott Spradley won 38% of the vote while Rick Belhumeur defeated Deborah Phillips in a close second-place win.

SIERRA WILLIAMS

STAFF WRITER

Flagler Beach residents Scott Spradley and Rick Belhumeur have won the two open Flagler Beach City Commission seats. The polls closed at 7 p.m. on March 7 with a 2,600 vot- er turnout for the commission seats. Spradley — a bankruptcy lawyer who recently represented the county in the dune easement hold-out case — won by a landslide 38.55%, with 1,034 votes.

It was a closer race between Belhumeur and the incumbent, Vice Chair Deborah Phillips. Belhumeur won 546 votes to Phillips’ 474, a difference of 72 votes.

Belhumeur is a returning city commissioner: He served on the commission for six years until he lost in 2022 to Commissioner James Sherman.

FDOT held an open house on Tuesday, Feb. 28, where it presented proposed improvements to a 6.2-mile corridor of LPGA Boulevard.

Jarleene Almenas

Senior Editor

The Florida Department of Transportation is hoping to address safety and traffic issues at one of the busiest corridors on the east side of Volusia County: LPGA Boulevard from U.S. 92 to Williamson Boulevard.

FDOT held an open house on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the LPGA International Clubhouse, presenting proposed improvements to the 6.2 -mile corridor — including a possible redesign of the LPGA Boulevard and I-95 interchange — as part of an ongoing $3.7 million Project Development and Environment study.

The project — which aims to address existing and future travel demand as well as the needs for bicyclists and pedestrians — also includes the Tomoka River Bridge.

“The project area is experiencing unprecedented growth in recent years,” FDOT stated in its presentation. “What used to be a rural area back in the 1980s is now home to numerous major residential communities and commercial developments.”

More developments, the presentation noted, are underway, and will worsen congestion if no improvements are completed.

Just east of the I-95 interchange, FDOT projects volume to reach 78,000 vehicles per day by 2050. West of the interchange, the volume is expected to reach 56,000 vehicles per day. Between 2015 and 2019, there were 927 crashes in the project area, 44% of which were rear-end crashes. Of the total crashes, 11 were fatal and six involved a pedestrian or bicyclist.

To improve the corridor, FDOT is proposing that LPGA Boulevard be widened to four lanes between U.S. 92 and Tymber Creek Road and to six lanes between Tymber Creek Road and Williamson Boulevard, and that bicycle and pedestrian facilities be added.

The commission had two seats up for election: former Commission Chair Ken Bryan’s seat, and Phillips’ seat. Bryan announced in early January that he would not be running for reelection, but Phillips was one of five candidates vying for the seats. Spradley and Belhumeur will be sworn in at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, ahead of the 5:30 p.m. City Commission meeting.

The commission will need to immediately elect a new chair- and vice-chairperson.

It’s also exploring replacing and widening the Tomoka River bridge to three 11-foot lanes in each direction, with left turn lanes. Currently, the bridge spans two lanes, and there are no paths for bicyclists and pedestrians.

FDOT is evaluating adding roundabouts at WelshingerButler Circle South and Pomona Drive near the Daytona Stadium, International Golf Drive and International Tennis Drive.

The I-95 interchange could be redesigned as a signalized turbine interchange. It is now a partial cloverleaf design, according to the presentation.

“This concept offers substantial benefits over other solutions that were considered by spreading the traffic across LPGA Boulevard to improve traffic flow by splitting the corridor into separate one-way pairs and providing longer storage for left turn lanes, without interfering with oncoming traffic, and reducing the number of conflict points where the ramps intersect LPGA Boulevard to enhance safety,” the presentation stated. “Additionally, the signalized to turbine interchange is easier to expand in the future, since traffic will continue to grow especially west of the I-95 interchange, where undeveloped lands are rezoned to residential and mixed uses.”

FDOT aims to complete its PD&E study by the fall. While the project’s $7.4 million design phase has been funded, construction remains unfunded.

Visit cflroads.com/project/448456-1 to view the presentation.