"drunk driving"

Published on: February 5, 2025

Pickup Truck Driver Faces Charges After Driving Through Liquor Store, police say

An elderly pickup truck driver faces charges after police accused him of driving drunk through a liquor store, causing an estimated $20,000 in damage over the weekend in Alachua County, Florida.

The driver was charged with driving under the influence, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court records. The Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg will not be naming the man as he was not charged with a felony.

Police say they were called out following reports of the crash around sunset on Thursday, Jan. 30, to the liquor store, which is about a 70-mile drive southwest from Jacksonville. When they arrived, they found that the pickup truck had driven through the storefront. Officers conducted a field sobriety test which they say he performed “poorly” on before he was taken to jail.

Published on: January 30, 2025

Elementary School Principal and Teacher in Brevard County Face Charges After 100 Kids Found Drinking at Party, Florida cops say

By Leesfield & Partners

An elementary school principal and teacher face multiple charges after police broke up a house party where over 100 minors were drinking, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan, 47, of Cocoa Beach, was charged with an open house party, a liquor law violation, and contributing to a child’s delinquency. Both of these charges are misdemeanors in Florida. Hill-Brodigan also faces a felony charge of child neglect without great bodily harm, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. She was granted a $3,500 bond and released Saturday.

Hill-Brodigan is a principal at Roosevelt Elementary School, which is a part of the Brevard County School District.

Published on: January 21, 2015

Fatal hit and run of two bicyclists in Key Biscayne

By Leesfield & Partners

Early this morning, two bicyclists were ran over by a motor vehicle in Key Biscayne. Police has advised that the driver who struck the bicyclists fled the scene, yet investigators have since indicated that the alleged driver was currently in custody.

There are very few details to date about the incident other than it occurred at around 5:30 A.M. and that the fatally struck bicyclist was in the right lane of the Rickenbacker Causeway near Crandon Park Marina. The other bicyclist, whose health condition remains unknown, was transported by ambulance to the hospital. Both families have a civil claim against the driver, and any other potential and non-obvious defendants.

Sadly fatal accidents of bicyclists in Key Biscayne is nothing new to authorities and to our law firm. In 2012, Aaron Cohen was on his bicycle on the Rickenbacker Causeway with his friend Enda Welsh, when he was also struck by a motorist, Michele Traverso. Much like today’s incident, Traveso fled the scene only to surrender himself 18 hours later. By the time Traverso was in custody, police could no longer garner evidence that Traverso was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and therefore could not possibly charge him with a DUI. Traverso was ultimately sentenced for less than two years behind bar for leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Published on: August 14, 2013

Fatal Car2Go Accident downtown Miami

By Leesfield & Partners

At dawn this morning in Miami, a Chevy pick-up truck traveling eastbound on Northeast 15th Street, in downtown Miami, was t-boned by a white Daimler SMART car traveling southbound on Biscayne Boulevard. One of the investigators told the media that it is believed the driver of the SMART car failed to stop at a stop sign or a red light, which was the cause for the two vehicle to collide at such a high rate of speed.

The incident occurred at approximately 4:45am on Wednesday August 14, 2013. The passenger of the SMART car, a young woman in her twenties was fatally injured and died at the scene. The driver of the SMART car was critically injured and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The condition of the driver of the pick-up truck remain unknown but reporters have shared that there are serious concerns he may have sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury and may be paralyzed. (Photo on the left courtesy of Miami Herald)

The SMART car involved in this incident, whose driver was supposedly at fault, was a CAR2GO vehicle. According to the company’s website, CAR2GO is a mobility program launched in Austin, Texas back in November 2009. The company provides a fleet of free-floating vehicles distributed all over the city. Individuals who become members of CAR2GO have the ability to use any vehicle from the CAR2GO fleet at any time.