Following a crash that left a motorcyclist dead near 90th and Blondo around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Omaha Police released new details saying they suspected the driver was driving on a suspended license.
Mederika Scott, 24, was booked into Douglas County Jail following the crash on charges of driving under the influence and on a suspended license.
Omaha Police say can be almost impossible to monitor those who drive on suspended licenses, though say it's an offense officers see daily.
In the past 24 hours, police records show, that seven people have been cited for driving on a revoked or suspended license.
Catching those drivers can be tricky, police say.
“It is difficult for the police department to monitor suspended drivers or revoked drivers," OPD Officer Phil Anson said. "However, if a party is actually found to be suspended or revoked the consequences can be as little as a ticket — which can be a fine — or as extreme as jail time, or even further as a lifetime suspension of a driver's license."
Driving while suspended or revoked can be either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on how many times a person has been caught.
Daniel Guardiola, longtime friend of Joseph Dillow, the motorcyclist killed in the crash, said learning that Scott was also allegedly under the influence is troubling.
“I don't wish anybody ill or anything I just don't have anything good to say about that person,” Guardiola said. “I just can't understand why anybody would be out there putting themselves or others in danger like that and it's really heartbreaking."
Police say they can't stop people from driving on a suspended license but they urge drivers not to risk it because not only can they be ticketed or thrown in jail, but it can cause them to have a difficult time getting insurance as well.
Guardiola said he was shocked upon hearing the news his friend had died.
“We became very, very close and best friends probably the last three years, and it's really heartbreaking,” he said.
He said he heard the news around 10 a.m. Friday — about 12 hours after Dillow died at the scene of the crash.
"I was really surprised to get that call at all,” Dillow said.
