JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After a year and eight months, the family of a DUI manslaughter victim will see justice.
Mason Blaine Reidenbach, 36, of Clay County, was killed in a car accident on July 18, 2020. He left behind a wife and two children, according to his obituary.
An arrest warrant from the State Attorney's Office says Mitchell Mendelson, 38, struck Reidenbach’s vehicle from behind.
Reidenbach was pronounced dead at the scene, the warrant says.
A laboratory report showed that Mendelson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.164%, more than two times the legal limit of 0.08%. He was arrested in February 2021 by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Mendelson was charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI property damage following the fatal accident.
On Monday, he was found guilty of DUI manslaughter.
Mendelson was sentenced to eight years in prison and five years of probation.
Reidenbach was described by friends as a “light in this world.”
He is survived by his wife of three years, Alexis Reidenbach, his parents and a sister, according to his obituary.
A Facebook post indicated he worked for Tijuana Flats.
“Mason was goofy, hilarious, always going, and brilliant with crazy good work ethic… There will never be another Mason,” a friend wrote on a GoFundMe page for Reidenbach’s family.
Pictures on the GoFundMe show Reidenbach with a bright smile and posing with his family.
Online comments on Reidenbach’s obituary remember him as a beloved friend and coworker. “He taught me to have integrity in everything I do,” wrote Elisha Stinson, who worked with Reidenbach.
“He would make it extremely difficult to be in his presence without smiling,” Michael Daryanani, a friend from high school, wrote.
