Retired NYC restaurant owner charged with DUI in Florida after wife died falling out of golf cart

A retired New York City restaurant owner has been charged with a DUI after his wife died in a golf cart crash in Florida.

Angelo Theodosiou, 64, who was behind the wheel of the cart, reportedly had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol when the crash occurred, according to an arrest report by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

His wife Christina Theodosiou, 58, fell out of the vehicle and hit her head on the ground, and later died of her injuries.

“People need to know golf carts are not toys. They’re dangerous, and they can kill people,” Attorney Curry Pajcic, told WJAX.

The incident occurred at around 10:45 p.m. on November 30 in the coastal community of Nocatee, where the couple had retired several years before.

Detectives noted that Angelo Theodosiou’s “eyes were bloodshot and watery and pupils displayed a reddened sclera,” according to an arrest report seen by Law and Crime. There was also “an odor of alcoholic beverage” coming from him that officers could smell “from approximately three feet away in an open area,” according to the report.

“The defendant [is] the driver of a golf cart where the passenger fell out of the vehicle… The victim, the defendant’s wife, struck her head on [the] ground… The defendant was found to be the at fault driver.”

Theodosiou reportedly refused to participate in a standardized field sobriety test, according to police, and instead asked “repeatedly” what was happening and why he had been arrested.He was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to police testing.

Christina Theodosiou was transported to Jacksonville Memorial Trauma Hospital by helicopter but later succumbed to her injuries.

Residents and local authorities have expressed concerns with the lack of speed bumps or other safety measures, Pajcic told WJAX. “These happen on a weekly, if not daily basis, these golf cart crashes, so we’re talking about hundreds a year,” he said.

Law enforcement officials confirmed that Angelo Theodosiou was released on bond on December 1, with his next court hearing scheduled for January 6.

Theodosiou has maintained that he was not under the influence and was not responsible for the incident.

“My client maintains his innocence and we’re looking forward to receiving the evidence,” attorney L. Lee Lockett told The St. Johns Citizen. “He didn’t cause the accident, he was not impaired.”

Lockett added that Theodosiou is “heartbroken” and “distraught” over the death of his wife. “He’s depressed as can be,” he said.

Theodosiou previously owned the Jackson House Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to the New York Post.