The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) arrests a 29-year-old Daytona Beach man for his role in a bar argument and street pursuit which ultimately led to a 33-year-old Ormond Beach man losing his life in a traffic crash.
DBPD took Oneil S. Edwards into custody at 3:10 p.m. today (July 25, 2022) on three charges in the bar incident, including attempted second-degree murder, battery and criminal mischief. Additional charges are pending in the traffic incident ending in the death of Alexander C. Simon, the other party involved in the incident at the Ocean Deck (127 South Ocean Avenue).
It all started last Thursday (July 21, 2022) at 11:48 p.m. when officers responded to the Ocean Deck after Volusia County emergency dispatchers received a call for help from that location.
Investigators discovered that Edwards and Simon got into a physical confrontation where various weapons were involved, including a firearm, a pocket knife and a machete. The exact motive for the fight is still under investigation, but video of the incident shows Edwards attempting to stab Simon with a pocket knife at least four times.
After getting out of the bar and into the parking lot, Simon drove away in a silver 2003 Ford truck heading south on South Atlantic Avenue/State Road A1A. Before the truck left the lot, Edwards used the butt of a gun to break the truck’s front passenger window and attempted to fire that gun, but the weapon malfunctioned. That’s when he ran back to his silver Acura vehicle, grabbed a machete from inside and used it to break the front driver’s side window of the truck as Simon drove away. Edwards then got behind the wheel of the Acura and followed Simon onto A1A.
Edwards pursued Simon until Simon lost control of the truck soon after crossing the Silver Beach Avenue intersection while heading south of A1A. The truck rolled over in a southeastern direction and crashed into a concrete pole, which re-directed it into the northbound lanes of A1A. That is where the truck came to its final rest.
Simon was ejected from the truck after it crashed into the pole, landing on a grass shoulder area on the east side of A1A. He passed away at the scene.
After traffic homicide investigators processed the crash scene for evidence, the Ford truck was towed from the crash scene to DBPD for further processing.
Edwards was not at the crash scene when officers arrived, but he did return to the Ocean Deck voluntarily afterward and spoke to officers there.
A Volusia County judge has signed off on a search warrant that investigators are now using to gather more potential evidence.
Edwards is under arrest on probable cause and will be booked at Volusia County Jail (VCJ) later this evening.
The traffic portion of this incident remains active and ongoing. Additional charges may be filed at the completion of that part of the investigation.
NOTE: The mugshot of Edwards is from a 2017 booking at Volusia County Jail (VCJ) on unrelated drug charges. The mugshot from this arrest will be posted on the VCJ website once he’s fully processed.