Ballroom Dancer Arrested for Hit-and-Run: Motorcyclist Critically Injured

The Incident: A Near-Fatal Collision

On a Sun­day morn­ing in West Mel­bourne, Flori­da, a shock­ing hit-and-run inci­dent left 34-year-old John Pow­ell fight­ing for his life. The alleged per­pe­tra­tor? Rebekah Maken­zie Tate, a 23-year-old pro­fes­sion­al ball­room dancer.

The Aftermath: A Desperate Attempt to Flee

Accord­ing to the West Mel­bourne Police Depart­ment, Tate did­n’t just flee the scene – she drove away with Pow­ell’s motor­cy­cle still attached to her car. Sur­veil­lance footage cap­tured her sub­se­quent actions:

1. Pulling into a park­ing lot “in an attempt to hide”
2. Try­ing to “remove the motor­cy­cle from under­neath her vehicle”
3. Mak­ing a phone call before being picked up by some­one in a black sedan

The Victim: John Powell’s Critical Condition

Pow­ell was found with “life-threat­en­ing injuries” after being knocked off his bike. The police report stat­ed, “The force of the crash caused the motor­cy­clist’s hel­met to come off, leav­ing him in the mid­dle of the road­way with life-threat­en­ing injuries.”

The Good Samaritan: Billy LeBlanc’s Rescue

Bil­ly LeBlanc, a Door­dash dri­ver on a late-night deliv­ery, became an unex­pect­ed hero. He dis­cov­ered Pow­ell lying limp in the road and imme­di­ate­ly took action to help.

Legal Consequences: Charges and Arraignment

Tate faces seri­ous legal repercussions:

• One count of leav­ing the scene of a crash with seri­ous bod­i­ly injury
• Two counts of attempt­ing to destroy evidence

At her ini­tial hear­ing, Tate plead­ed not guilty. The court set bond at $15,000 for one count and $2,500 for the other.

Public Reaction: Social Media Backlash

In the wake of her arrest, Tate’s Insta­gram posts have been flood­ed with neg­a­tive com­ments, with some users label­ing her “#scu­moftheearth.”

This inci­dent serves as a stark reminder of the impor­tance of respon­si­ble dri­ving and the severe con­se­quences of hit-and-run acci­dents. As the legal process unfolds, the com­mu­ni­ty watch­es close­ly, hop­ing for jus­tice and a full recov­ery for John Powell.