Diane Ferron, a civilian employee at the Pinellas County Jail, was charged last week with driving under the influence (DUI) after reportedly crashing through a jail fence when leaving work. Ferron, an assistant inmate records supervisor, was leaving the jail after working on Wednesday when she lost control of her car and drove through the jail’s exterior chain-link fence.

Pinellas county deputies responded to the accident and felt that Ferron was impaired. She reportedly failed a field sobriety test. The deputies ruled out alcohol (presumably via a breath test of some sort), however. Ferron said she had taken prescription medication.

Ferron was charged with DUI and DUI with property damage. Both charges are misdemeanors and Ferron has been allowed to return to work pending an internal investigation. She faces up to six months in jail for the DUI charge and up to a year in jail for the DUI with property damage charge. (more…)

Actor Joseph Gannascoli, most recently known for playing gay mobster Vito Spatafore on the HBO series “The Sopranos,” was arrested this weekend in Tampa and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Gannascoli made a special appearance Thursday evening at SoHo Cigar in Tampa. He was promoting his cigar, the Cugine. He was arrested not far from the cigar shop.

According to police reports, an officer in Hyde Park spotted a 2010 Dodge make a wide right turn from Howard Avenue onto Kennedy Boulevard at about 2:40 am on Friday morning. The officer saw the Dodge drift in its lane and drive on the lane marker.

After stopping the car, which was driven by Gannascoli, the officer could reportedly smell alcohol on the actor’s breath and noted that Gannascoli had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes. He allegedly failed several field sobriety tests. (more…)

St. Petersburg police are planning to run a DUI checkpoint on Friday, June 18, 2010. The checkpoint will cover all southbound traffic at 1700 34th St. N at the Publix supermarket.

According to a media release, the checkpoint will be set up from 10pm Friday night through 4am Saturday morning. All southbound traffic will be required to pass through the checkpoint. Drivers will then be re-directed into the Publix parking lot and will potentially undergo several checks by the St. Pete officers.

Drivers will be expected to show a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. Police will also be trying to determine if anyone is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Anyone reasonably suspected of DUI will be asked to perform field sobriety exercises. (more…)

A St. Petersburg man now faces up to 15 years in prison for the death of his fiancee in a car accident. Back on April 30, 2010 at 4:15pm, Edward Kirby accidentally struck his fiancee, Lillian Benson, with his van.

Kirby was arrested last week, now charged with driving under the influence manslaughter by prosecutors in Pinellas County. Law enforcement officials say that Kirby was intoxicated when he drove into a St. Petersburg parking lot at 3491 Gandy to pick up Benson, who had been in the building applying to attend ITT Technical Institute.

As Kirby approached Benson, though, he did not brake but may have actually accelerated instead. His Plymouth Voyager minivan hit Benson on the sidewalk. She was taken to a hospital, where she passed away shortly thereafter. (more…)

Shannon Stephen will be retried this week in Pasco County for the March 2006 deaths of Joseph Swiech and Sarah Gleason. Swiech and Gleason were walking home from the Chasco Fiesta festival when they were struck and killed by a passing pickup truck.

Stephen was charged with two counts of driving under the influence-manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. He faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of all counts.

The case first went to trial in June 2008 but ended in a mistrial. After deliberating for more than three hours, the original jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. (This circumstance is referred to as a “hung jury”.) (more…)

Actress and party girl Lindsay Lohan was ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet by a California judge earlier this week. Lohan is on probation for a drug charge and several alcohol-related driving offenses.

Lohan failed to appear a probation review hearing last week, instead attending the Cannes Film Festival in France. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest for failing to appear. The warrant was recalled after her lawyer posted bail. Lohan returned to the U.S. over the weekend and appeared in court on Monday.

As a condition of her continued release, Lohan must wear the ankle bracelet and submit to regular drug and alcohol testing. She is set to reappear in court for a probation violation hearing on July 6. The bracelet – often referred to as a SCRAM bracelet (which stands for “Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor”) – was placed on Lohan immediately. She will be required to wear it until the July hearing, at which time the judge could order it removed or she could order that it remain in place as a new condition of probation.

The SCRAM bracelet is also used in the Tampa Bay area. In almost all alcohol-related crimes, including DUIs, the judge will order a defendant to refrain from drinking alcohol while free on bail or while on probation. The SCRAM bracelet makes it possible to enforce that condition on a regular basis. (more…)

After an unusual trial, a former Bradenton high school football coach was found guilty yesterday of DUI manslaughter, after a weeklong trial. We reported here last month about the Manatee County case against Josh Hunter, whose blood-alcohol content was nearly three times the level at which Florida law presumes impairment (.08%) after the car accident in March 2009 which killed his passenger Doug Garrity.

The jury deliberated for two hours before returning their guilty verdict. Hunter faces up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued that Hunter partied with his friends for more than eight hours and had over a dozen alcoholic drinks before climbing behind the wheel of his truck. After the party, Hunter’s truck veered off the road, crossed two lanes of traffic and overturned.

One key element of the state’s case was problematic. They had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Josh Hunter was operating the truck at the time of the accident. A witness from the party testified that Hunter “got into the driver’s side of his Ford F-150, turned the key in the ignition, and proceeded to I-75.” However, none of the passengers would testify that it was Josh Hunter driving. (more…)

A Pinellas County jury found Travis Merriex guilty of DUI this week for driving his PSTA bus into a check cashing store in 2007. Merriex, now a former public bus driver, was under the influence of prescription drugs and behind the wheel of the bus when it jumped the curb, collided with cars, trees and a utility pole before crashing into the Amscot check cashing business on Central Avenue.

In the aftermath of the crash, James Westerhoff became pinned between two cars. After being extracted by six men, Westerhoff discovered that he broke his ankle and had substantial contusions.

Merriex, who exercised his constitutional right to NOT testify against himself, was taken to a  hospital after the accident. An officer described Merriex’s behavior as slow and lethargic. Blood tests revealed Methadone, Alprazolam (generic Xanax) and Lorazepam (generic Ativan) in his system. Merriex told police that the prescriptions were for a back injury. (more…)

Earlier this year, Justin Jones pleaded guilty in a Hillsborough County courtroom to the DUI manslaughter of his best friend Dustin Alderman. Alderman was to have been a groomsman in Jones’ wedding 11 days after the October 19, 2008 accident. Jones was sentenced in Tampa last week.

Charged with DUI manslaughter, three counts of DUI with serious bodily injury and two counts of DUI with property damage, Jones would have faced up to life in prison had a jury convicted him. By negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors, Jones was instead sentenced to five years in prison followed by 10 years’ probation. (more…)

Clearwater police went to a local bar on a tip looking for Brian Ferry earlier this week with a warrant for his arrest. Ferry had failed to appear at a court date for driving without a license. Officers say Ferry took off from the bar in his pickup before he could be arrested. A police spokeswoman indicated that the officers did not pursue when Ferry fled at a high rate of speed.

Two miles away, Ferry reportedly ran a red light and hit a Yellow Cab. The cab driver was killed in the collision. Ferry was arrested on charges of vehicular homicide, fleeing and eluding resulting in a death, driving with a suspended or revoked license resulting in a death, and the original warrant for failure to appear on the suspended license charge.

Investigators now await results from blood tests to determine if Ferry will face DUI manslaughter charges. Ferry has four prior DUI convictions. (more…)