Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols this afternoon sentenced 22-year-old Nicholas Tyler McLean to three years in prison followed by 12 years on probation for the drunk-driving death of motorcyclist Robert Clark during Bike Week last year on Belle Terre Boulevard. Clark, a Palm Coast resident, was 70.
McLean was at the wheel of his pick-up truck and had three passengers as they drove south on Belle Terre Boulevard. Clark was riding north. McLean made a left turn onto Fin Way, violating Clark’s right-of-way. Clark crashed his Harley-Davidson into the right side of the pick-up truck.
McLean and other members of the National Guard had gone to Houligan’s in Palm Coast and were returning to the armory off Fin Way. The crash took place at 10:55 p.m. on March 8, 2025. Robert Clark was pronounced deceased less than an hour later at a hospital.
McLean had pulled over and cooperated with law enforcement. His face had been flushed, his eyes glossy and the smell of alcohol emanated from him as he addressed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. His legs were shaking.
He conducted some of the field-sobriety exercises at the scene and agreed to a blood draw and a recorded interview. He told an investigator that he’d spent four to five hours at the restaurant, consuming two beers before going to Cue Note, the pool hall at City Marketplace where he said he had one beer. His blood-alcohol content was 0.108 and 0.108 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, according to FHP. The legal limit is 0.08.
He’d seen headlights in the distance as he was driving down Belle Terre Boulevard and thought he had enough time to turn. “As he was turning, he saw a headlight shift in front of the vehicle and realized it was [a] motorcycle, but it was too late to avoid a collision,” his arrest report stated. “He said the motorcycle’s headlight blended in [with] the headlights of the car behind it and he did not see the motorcycle at the time.”
McLean, who was represented by defense attorney Lewis Lockett, faced a second degree felony charge of DUI manslaughter punishable by a maximum of 15 years. He pleaded today and was immediately sentenced. Among the conditions of the plea are 50 hours of community service and the permanent revocation of his driver’s license. He was also fined $1,000. He is eligible for early termination of his probation at the halfway mark if he complies with probation’s conditions. He lives in Sumter County, where he would serve his probation after prison, where he will also be eligible for gain time, or early release after serving 85 percent of his sentence.
“I would say this is a fair resolution in the case, and your attorney did a good job,” the judge told him.
Clark, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which he attended on an athletic scholarship, headed a gymnastics program at the YMCA before becoming the chief financial officer of his brother’s company, Durham, N.C.-based Xenobiotics Detection Systems. “Whether soaring through the air in competition, riding his motorcycle down the open road, sharing stories that filled the room with laughter, or scaling water towers on a dare, Rob embraced life fearlessly,” his obituary read.
Clark was one of eight motorcyclists killed on Flagler County roads last year.
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