My story begins on Christmas day 2020. COVID-19 had most of the world locked down, hunkered in our homes for most of the year, and this was the first major holiday everyone could celebrate in some type of normal fashion, even if “modified.”
I spent the day at home, not doing much, enjoying a day off from work. Christmas just happened to fall on one of my regular days off, otherwise, I would have spent the holiday working.
Living in an area surrounded by theme parks, and one within a three-minute drive from my home, I decided I would go over later in the evening to walk around, see the Christmas decorations, and take in some of the entertainment that the park offers each holiday season.
The day started out like most of my other days off – relaxing. I caught up on some chores, watched some holiday movies on TV, and didn’t make any set-in-stone plans for the holiday.
I don’t eat breakfast or lunch and just have a snack in the afternoon – it’s part of my everyday routine. I was planning on grabbing some light bites from the many holiday food booths at the park and having a pizza delivered when I got home at the end of the night.
I drove over and arrived at the park around 7:00 pm. I walked around, rode a few roller coasters, and grabbed a snack before heading to one of the shows.
Once the show was over, I decided to call it quits and head out. It was at this point, I made a huge mistake: I stopped at the park’s bar before I left.
After seeing all the celebrations and decorations throughout the park, I felt in the Christmas spirit and decided to join the revelers in a few drinks before I left. I didn’t have anything to drink at all before now. I also only ate very little, only a few light bites while walking around the park.
It was about 9:00 pm and the park was closing in an hour. I remember drinking two cans of Bud Light Hard Seltzer and upon the encouragement of others at the bar, did a shot of whisky. I may have had two shots.
My bill for the night was $56.12 which included the tip. Anyone who knows theme parks and theme park drink prices can make their own judgment as far as how much I drank.
However, I consumed a good amount of alcohol in a short period of time on a mostly empty stomach.
Things suddenly turned bad and I don’t recall much of what happened after this point. But I know I left the park and made the decision to get behind the wheel of my car and drive home – which is a very short distance from the park.
The next thing I remember is waking up in the emergency room of the local hospital.
I recall being asked questions by a police officer in the emergency room, consenting to a blood draw to determine my blood alcohol content (BAC), getting out of bed to use the bathroom, and being woken up at 7 am to be discharged.
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC): The concentration of alcohol in the blood, expressed as the weight of alcohol in a fixed volume of blood and used as a measure of the degree of intoxication in an individual. The concentration depends on body weight, the quantity and rate of alcohol ingestion, and the rates of alcohol absorption and metabolism.
Before being discharged I was given information about what happened to my car, and how to treat my injuries which included neck pain, cuts on my face, and a black eye.
While the police officer was not present upon my discharge, the hospital nurse told me after exiting the park’s parking lot, I drove up over a curb and hit a tree. Thankfully, I didn’t hit another vehicle, person, or have anyone in my car with me.
I have spent countless hours and sleepless nights struck with fear and depression about what could have happened if I injured or killed someone. Since the accident, there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about what would have happened if I killed someone due to my negligence.
The results of my blood test revealed my blood alcohol level (BAC) was 0.248 – the legal limit in Florida, and most states, is 0.08.
At this point, I was not ticketed or charged with any crime or given any paperwork other than a towing receipt from the highway patrol.
I left the hospital and called for a taxi to take me to the towing company to see what could be done with my car. It had sustained some major front-end damage, the airbags were not deployed, however, it would not move out of park, so I had no way to get it home.
With my driver’s license still valid (since I had yet to be charged), I had the taxi driver take me to a car rental company where I rented a car.
I immediately contacted an attorney, who I knew casually from a place I worked, and let him know what happened. Since I received no citation or information from the police, I had nothing to go on and just waited for the next shoe to fall.
Christmas and New Year’s passed and so did the entire month of January without hearing a word from the police or the DMV.
As each day went by, my anxiety level grew. I wondered if anything was going to happen.
Would I be charged with DUI?
Why haven’t I heard anything yet?
Not knowing the answers was stressful.
My attorney didn’t have answers either as we both shared bewilderment in the lack of communication from the DMV or the police. But in the back of my mind, I knew this wasn’t something I was going to get away with.
Up next… my arrest. Click to read the details.