ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says a man is in jail, charged with DUI, after a golf cart crash Sunday that killed his wife in a Nocatee neighborhood.
According to the SJCSO, Angelo Theodosiou was behind the wheel, with bloodshot eyes and smelling strongly of alcohol. His wife, Christina, died after she fell from the golf cart and hit her head on the ground.
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“We woke up to the lights out here,” neighbor Christopher Barnes recalled. “I came outside … matter of fact, she was already loaded into the ambulance. Her husband was out here, and the police were talking to him. he was pacing around. The golf cart was already by the mailbox.”
Theodosiou is charged with DUI, and deputies say he refused to take a breath test.
Attorney Curry Pajcic, who is not connected to the case, said fatal golf cart crashes are more common than many people realize.
“People need to know golf carts are not toys,” Pajcic said. “They’re dangerous, and they can kill people.”
Residents say concerns over speeding golf carts — driven by both teens and adults — are nothing new in the area. Pajcic went on to say crashes like this happen frequently across Northeast Florida.
“In the Fourth Judicial Circuit, and you throw in St. Johns County, this happens on a weekly if not a daily basis,” he said. “So we’re talking hundreds a year across the state. and they’re increasing,” Pajcic added.
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Barnes and other neighbors say there had been warning signs.
“We kind of imagine it was only a matter of time before someone was in an accident at this intersection,” he said.”
Another neighbor, Yariela Farkas, said mixing alcohol with golf carts is a recipe for tragedy. “You shouldn’t be drinking and driving,” she said. “It’s still a vehicle, and it’s still dangerous.”
Pajcic added that golf carts lack many basic safety features.
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He recommends that people operate them using common sense and good judgment.
“Don’t drink and drive, wear a seatbelt, have your headlights on, use blinkers, stay in your lane,” he said. “Be safe. It’s just like a car; however, golf carts they don’t have the safety mechanisms of a car. They don’t have airbags, they don’t have bumpers,” said Pajcic.
Neighbors who knew Christina Theodosiou say she was a cherished friend, but told Action News Jax the grief is still too raw to speak on camera.
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