Drunken “Idol” Killer on Suicide Watch: Police

By TERESA MASTERSON

Updated 3:01 PM EDT, Tue, Jul 28, 2009

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The man arrested and charged with the alleged alcohol-induced hit-and-run that killed former “American Idol” contestant Alexis Cohen is on suicide watch, said police.

Daniel Bark, 23, has a few reasons to feel regret, according to the series of events police outlined the night Cohen died.

The night began with Bark hitting a parked car in the lot of a nightclub, while allegedly drunk, and fleeing the scene with policemen on bicycles in pursuit early Saturday morning, according to Asbury Park Press.

After eluding police because, well, they were on bikes, Bark hit Cohen with his car only blocks away.

Police caught up to Bark at 4 a.m. and issued him a number of citations, including driving while intoxicated. It wasn’t until later that police were alerted to the fact that Cohen was lying dead near the intersection of Bay and Dupont avenues in a residential area of Seaside Heights.

Police charged Bark with “aggravated manslaughter by causing the death of another while fleeing from law enforcement officers,” vehicular homicide and eluding police.

Police now have Bark on suicide watch at the Ocean County Jail, and his attorney David Glassman says the 23-year-old is very distraught that he is charged with causing someone’s death.

Bark could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of aggravated manslaughter. More years could be tacked on for the other charges against him.

The 24-year-old Allentown, Pa., woman who was killed is known for trying out for “American Idol” and giving very colorful and angry feedback when she was rejected for the show’s seventh season.