Lake County Firefighter Receives DUI After Minor Crash

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on June 12, 2020

A firefighter with the Lake County Fire Rescue team is at the center of a DUI investigation within the city of Eustis. Reports from the Eustis Police Department stated that it was sometime close to 1:00 in the morning on Saturday, June 7th, when they began to receive reports of a minor collision involving a Ford Mustang. The calls reaching the police department indicated that the Mustang was stuck on a curb. The reports did not indicate what area of the city the curb was in nor along which road the Mustang was traveling before it became immobilized. What we do know is that the person behind the wheel of the mustang was employed as a firefighter within Lake County.

When the officers arrived at the crash site, they found the car hanging over the curb as described. Within the vehicle were two individuals, both of whom appeared to be in an advanced state of intoxication. The driver of the vehicle told the officers that the two individuals had been at The Crazy Gator earlier in the evening and had left sometime around 11:30 p.m. The driver told the officers that the passenger, who is believed to own the car, was too drunk to drive, so the firefighter offered to take over and give them both a ride home. It was while they were on their way home that they struck the curb and became unable to drive further.

The police requested the driver to exit the vehicle in order to undergo a field sobriety test. As the man was leaving the car he lost his balance and fell into the road. Afterwards, he failed the field sobriety test.

The officers arrested the firefighter and transported him from the scene to the Eustis Police Department headquarters where he took several breathalyzer tests. The results of these placed the individual’s BAC level between 0.224 and 0.222 – well over twice the legal limit for driving.

The individual was then placed under arrest with DUI charges. It is believed that they were subsequently discharged from position with the Lake County Fire Rescue service.

Sources:

• Lake firefighter who was ‘pretty messed up’ arrested on DUI charge, police say

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.