Driver charged with vehicular homicide after man killed at Cleveland's Dancing in the Streets

CLEVELAND - Family and friends of the victims of Sunday night's deadly crash at one of Cleveland's largest  LGBT events question why the alleged driver was still on the streets.

Jim Dieterle said he was shocked by his neighbor 27-year-old Mitchell Andelmo's untimely death.

"I knew there were some fatalities I didn't know he was one of them," he said.

Andelmo was at the Dancing in the Streets festival on Clifton Boulevard when police say 35-year-old Timothy Spock, of Cleveland, plowed into the barricaded street. Police said he was drunk and hit Andelmo, along with four other victims, including his girlfriend, Constance Pokorny.

On Monday, Spock was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. He is set to appear in court Tuesday morning.

"It's a freak incident. You wonder what's going on in the world that things like this can happen so often," Dieterle said.

Cleveland police are holding a man behind bars pending charges for aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. Dieterle said this is an unfortunate and senseless loss.

"Drunk driving is a habitual problem. The problem is most of them don't know they're a problem," he said, "It seems like they never learn."

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Aids Task Force said they're praying for the victims and their families. CEO Tracy Jones said in 28 years of holding this event, they've never experienced anything like this.

"We're just hopeful and prayerful the justice center will do what it needs to in order to hold him accountable," Jones said.

According to Dieterle, Andelmo and his father have lived together for years, after his mother passed away.
He said he's saddened that the life of such a good-hearted person has been taken for no good reason.

"I don't know what's happening with the world, but there's a lot of people who think life is awfully cheap and it's not," he said.

Pokorny was upgraded to fair condition with a skull fracture. A 44-year-old victim suffered severe trauma and was placed on a ventilator, according to the police report. He remains in critical condition. Two others were treated and released, police said.