BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — After his car hit a tree, sending three of his passengers flying onto the roadway, Adam Teasdale walked in circles around the bodies.
“I just killed my friends,” he said according to a witness who lives near where the crash happened at Brimhall Road and Jewetta Avenue. Later, Teasdale, 21, made several unprompted statements at Kern Medical.
“Why did I swerve,” he said according to police reports filed in the case. He said the devil was inside him, the reports say.
Teasdale is charged with three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of DUI causing bodily injury in the New Year’s Eve crash that killed Timothy Michael Wilson, Devin Lee Atha and Andrew Nicholas Ortiz, all 20. A fourth passenger suffered minor injuries.
Police found “whip-it” canisters of nitrous oxide — which provide a brief high by inhaling the gas — and a bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey with only a few ounces left inside it at the crash scene, according to the documents. A whip-it canister was also found in one of Teasdale’s pockets, the reports say.
Teasdale’s blood was drawn to test for alcohol and drugs, but test results were not contained in the documents.
Based on evidence at the scene, police believe Teasdale was driving a Toyota Avalon about 60 mph east on Brimhall Road when he swerved and lost control. The car went onto the raised concrete median and the rear driver side door slammed into a tree, according to the documents. The impact rotated the car and the three men seated in the back were thrown through the rear window, the reports say.
Held on $1 million bail, Teasdale is next due in court March 26. He has pleaded not guilty.
