A 19-year-old from Orange County teen may have been driving under the influence when he drove straight into a wall last month but he wasn’t given a sobriety test when deputies showed up on scene.
“All I can hear is screaming. It’s a concrete wall. They knocked it right down,” exclaimed a neighbor during an overnight 911 call.
And it was at least four hours before the teen was even asked for a blood sample.
News 13 has conducted a week-long investigation into why the teen hasn’t yet been charged with DUI.
“The cinder blocks went through the gate, past the front door. Luckily nothing hit the house,” said Orange County homeowner Paul Daly.
He showed us the property damage from the crash that took place more than a month ago.
According to an FHP report, a 19-year-old slammed into the wall behind Daly’s home on June 19. We are not naming the man because he has not yet been charged with any crime. Troopers believe the 19-year-old was driving drunk. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 911 call for help since Daly lives in unincorporated East Orange County.
However, the sheriff’s office's policy is to assist in traffic cases and not to investigate. As a result the driver was not asked for a blood sample for four hours until FHP crash investigators interviewed the 19-year-old at the hospital.
“The driver is able to sober up more because he’s not drinking anymore. The Sheriff deputy is just standing there with the victims. We stood here. We just waited like waiting for somebody to show up,” Daly said.
FHP troopers wrote in their initial report that they wanted to charge the 19-year-old with DUI because he smelled like alcohol but could not because he would not take a blood alcohol test. His license was suspended for not taking the test per Florida law.
We reached out to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to find out why they did not give the 19-year-old a sobriety test. A spokesperson submitted this statement, which was reiterated via telephone:
“The OCSO does not conduct Traffic Crash Investigations, we are first responders and provide immediate assistance and response to a call for help; the FHP is then the lead investigative agency, with the expertise to handle the crash or traffic homicide investigation.”
News 13 has found the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is not alone when it comes to not investigating major traffic incidents. That policy is similar to ones in Brevard, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
Meanwhile, Paul Daly has become passionate about this issue and has caught the interest of State Representative Joe Saunders, D-Orlando.
Saunders believes a possible solution lies in fully staffing the FHP. He said if troopers are paid more the agency can compete with salaries at city and county law enforcement agencies and stay better staffed.
“While it’s likely a funding problem, it’s also a policy problem," Saunders explained. "We need to close the loophole that leaves people unclear about who is really responsible for coming out in the middle of the night to a crash and fully investigating. I think we have to answer that question first and then we’ve got to talk about budgets.”
Representative Saunders said he would like to find a solution and bring his idea before state lawmakers during next year’s legislative session in Tallahassee.
FHP told News 13 they have forwarded this case to the State Attorney’s Office, asking that the 19-year-old be charged with DUI and property damage.
Right now, he has been given a ticket for careless driving.