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DUI Charges For Deputy Involved In Crash

Florida roads can be dangerous, and Matthew Crane has experienced firsthand just how risky they can be. In the early morning hours of Friday, June 10, Crane noticed headlights heading his direction. A few moments later, and he realized that the vehicle approaching him was in the wrong lane – his lane – and moving right for him.

Crane was operating a semi-truck, and managed to move his truck to the shoulder of the road. It wasn’t enough. The SUV ended up sideswiping his truck, denting the rim and blowing a hole into his tire. Crane only realized that he had been struck after a rear tire began wobbling and he pulled to the side of the road to investigate, then calling 911.

The driver of the SUV didn’t stop, and it took the Florida Highway Patrol little time to catch up with him. The vehicle was found abandoned just down the road from the site of the accident, with the front quarter-panel peeled off the vehicle, a driver’s side door that was completely mangled and jammed shut, and other minor scratches and damage.

The owner of the vehicle was found hiding in a grassy ditch just a short distance away. But to make this accident more problematic is the act that the driver – Justin Garrett – is a part of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department. The 29 year old officer was found with breath smelling strongly of alcohol and refusing to provide a blood-alcohol test to officers on the scene.

Garret joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2011 and has served as a patrol deputy since then. Today, he faces criminal DUI charges and has been suspended without pay until the investigation and sentencing are completed.

This isn’t Garrett’s first offense, either. A review of his history includes:

  • Two speeding tickets since 200

  • An accident in March of 2014 where he rears ended a vehicle on Interstate 75, causing more than $4,000 in damage to his patrol car.


Currently, Garret is free after posting a $750 bail. However, the evidence against him is strong and its likely that a guilty verdict will be handed down, barring unforeseen evidence or information coming to light.

The larger irony of the accident is that the same Sheriff’s office Garrett is a part of just lost one of its own in a DUI accident when Deputy John Robert Kotfila Jr was run over by a drunk driver going the wrong way – just as Garrett was.

Fortunately, this time there were no injuries from the accident. But it doesn’t change the fact that drunk driving is a major problem on Florida roads. And for one of Florida’s own deputies to be involved on the wrong side of one of those DUI incidents only showcases that it’s a problem that can’t be completely controlled.

Crane and Garrett were both incredibly lucky in that neither was injured in the crash. However, many aren’t that fortunate and every year thousands are killed or injured in a DUI. When it occurs, it can throw a life into major upheaval and it is important to get the compensation that is needed to get your life back into order. In this situation, it’s unlikely that a personal injury lawyer will be needed – but those involved in a DUI accident should always speak to one to be sure that their rights are being protected to the fullest.

The Hillsborough Sheriff’s Department hasn’t commented on the accident or on Garrett himself, and Garrett has remained out of public view as well. Time will tell what the outcome of this case is, but for now those involved agree that it’s fortunate no injuries were sustained as a result of one man’s reckless actions.