EIGHT people including six bikers have been killed and 88 others seriously injured after this year’s Daytona Bike Week.
The two others who died were stabbed to death when riding home from the event in a murder that police say was solved by mystery initials.
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As many as 88 injured people were taken to the trauma center at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, after being involved in crashes, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Hospital spokesman John Guthrie said the weather played a role in the number of injuries.
“People were really more active this year because of the beautiful weather, so we would have had traumas anyway,” Guthrie told the local news outlet. “But the 88 motorcycle trauma calls added to it.”
Officials said two bikers died in the area after they were hit by a car who drifted into the wrong lane on Saturday March 5.
On Monday, March 7, a 39-year-old died in a crash with an SUV, and a fourth person died in another crash in the area that same day, per authorities.
Then, on Wednesday, March 9, troopers found a 42-year-old biker who had been killed after being ejected from his motorcycle, which had hit a culvert.
The sixth crash-related death occurred on Sunday, March 13, when a man was killed at an intersection when his motorcycle crashed into a pickup, according to police.
The brutal murder of married couple Terry Aultman, 48, and Brenda Aultman, 55, brought the death toll to eight.
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Investigators say the Aultmans had been attending nearby Bike Week events earlier in the evening, but police were still trying to determine what led to the attack.
They were found on Sunday morning with their throats slashed next to their bikes.
Jean Robert Macean, 32, was arrested in Orlando as a suspect after a server recognized him as someone she had served.
After police released photos of a suspect, waitress Valerie Court realized she had served him on Saturday, March 5. Macean had used a credit card to pay for his meal as well, police said.
“It didn’t have his name on it. It said ‘my temporary pay card’ but he did initial, sign it and initial it ‘JM’,” Court said.
Using that receipt, police were able to track down Jean Macean to a location in Orlando, eventually arresting him there.
Daytona Beach Police Department Chief Jakari Young said their deaths were “probably one of the most vicious and gruesome incidents” he had seen in 20 years working for the police.
The arrest came less than 24 hours after police announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the double-slaying.
The popular festival ran from March 4-13 this year.
Last year, eight bikers were killed during Bike Week, which was a record.
The Sun has contacted the festival for comment.
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