…Barnes hit the brakes on his red 2000 Camaro hard, and Ayon swerved his Nissan Maxima around him to the lane closest to the curb. But at such high speeds, he couldn’t avoid a parked car near where Arif and her son stood.
Barnes sped off, and when police arrived at the scene of limp bodies and pools of blood, they arrested Ayon. He is charged with attempted murder. Barnes later turned himself in to police, and he faces the same charges.
…Little is known about Ayon, but Barnes’ arrest record described him as a 6-foot, 198-pound man born June 1, 1963, who works in the adult-film industry. The Internet Adult Film Database lists an actor with the same birthdate and physical description who performs under the name Brian Surewood.
Members of the closely knit business described him as an alternately macho and laid-back man, aggressive on camera but friendly between scenes.
"As far as the porn industry goes, he’s an intellectual," porn blogger Luke Ford said. "He likes to smoke pot and watch the History Channel for hours. "
Ford said Barnes, who cultivated an outlaw image, with a scraggly beard, moustache and bandanna, could quickly shift from relaxed to aggressive. News of the crash did not come as a shock, he said.
Others described Barnes as a hippie who was kind to his fellow performers.
"This is a super tragedy," said Bill Margold, an industry advocate who worked on a movie with Barnes. "I ache for him because he’s a really good person. This is just indicative that this industry is full of over-aged juvenile delinquents."
In a light-hearted interview a year ago on an Adult DVD Talk podcast, Barnes’ assessment of himself was almost prophetic for what happened this week.
"I smoke pot not for my health, but for other people’s," he said. "I think I’m generally a violent person. Smoking pot really helps me curb my ways. It makes me very happy and mellow and very easy to get along with, instead of an irate (jerk)."