| Miramar police: Driver of car that killed motorcyclist had high blood alcohol level |
| A driver's blood alcohol level was almost three times over the legal limit Tuesday morning when he hit and killed a motorcyclist, police said. Robert Jones, 31, of Miramar, was arrested after police said he fled the scene of the crash. He was booked into the Broward Main Jail on multiple traffic-related charges, including DUI manslaughter. Eric Maron, 43, of Davie, died at the scene immediately after the crash, which occurred at the intersection of Pembroke Road and Island Drive, officials said. Jones was driving his 9-year-old stepdaughter to school when the accident happened at 7:20 a.m., said Miramar police spokeswoman Tania Rues. They were in a white, older model Toyota Avalon and were not injured. The motorcyclist was trying to get in front of the Toyota in the left eastbound lane of Pembroke Road when the crash happened, according to Justin Chavez, 17, who said he saw the accident. Police said they are still investigating the cause of the accident. The motorcyclist was dragged about 100 feet underneath the car before it came to a stop at the intersection, Chavez said. That's when he saw Jones and his stepdaughter leave the car. "They looked shaken up," Chavez said. "I was more concerned about the man who was trapped. He just looked lifeless." Jones started walking south on Island Drive and told Chavez he was going to take his daughter to school and would come back, police said. Police later found him in the 2100 block of Gulfstream Drive, about seven blocks from the crash scene. The Miramar Fire Department administered two Breathalyzer tests and withdrew blood for an official toxicology report, Rues said. Both Breathalyzer tests showed Jones' blood alcohol level was nearly three times above the legal limit, officials said. It will take several weeks before the results of the blood test are released, Rues said. The breath/blood alcohol limit in the state of Florida is .08. The most likely charges for the driver of this vehicle would include DUI manslaughter and Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Death. However, the state of Florida would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt specific elements required by Florida Statute. The first element that must be proven is that the individual charged was the person in actual physical control of the vehicle at the time of the crash. In addtion, they would have to prove that the driver's impairment was the cause of the accident and not as a result of the careless driving of the motorcyclist. A recent high profile case with similar charges was resolved early with very little incarceration in part because of the state's inability to disprove that the victim's actions were not as likely a cause of the accident as the driver's level of impairment while behind the wheel of his vehicle.
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Posted By Brett Schwartz on September 09, 2009 07:29 am | Permalink  |