A truck driver who rammed his semi truck into a gentleman’s club after getting kicked out notified a friend he was about to be arrested before driving his rig, texts show.
Details about the Tuesday Incident at the Emperors Gentlemen’s Club in Tampa, Florida were released on Thursday, August 15th.
According to Tampa Bay Times, truck driver Dylan Fogel was kicked out of the club he was visiting with his friend Anthony Matelsky after touching a dancer inappropriately. Matelsky eventually walked out of the club and became “physically confrontational” with the club staff, where he was pushed and fell onto his back. It was then that Fogel drove his semi truck into a group of people, killing one and injuring others.
An arrest report states that Dylan Fogle sent a text message to a childhood friend stating “Goodbye. I’m going to prison for vehicular manslaughter,” just before driving his rig into the people.
“It was a very humbling thing to be someone’s last call,” Angelise Ortiz, Fogle’s friend, said of the incident. “I don’t believe that he planned on surviving it.”
During an interview with police, Fogle stated that he only rolled forward when he saw his friend get into a fight at the front of the club. He says that the accelerator got stuck, but when asked why he didn’t steer away from the group of people, he could not provide an answer.
Ortiz says that Fogle had a passion for semi trucks and moved to Tampa for his “dream job” with Mule Team, a trucking company based in Tennessee.
Fogel is currently being held without bond. He is facing charges of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI with serious injury, and DUI manslaughter, reported WFLA8.