ST. PETERSBURG – A man involved in a drunken-driving wreck that killed a Florida man and his three grown sons this month had a blood-alcohol level of 0.154 percent, almost twice the legal limit, according to court records.

The suspect, who turned 21 this week, was charged with four counts of driving under the influence manslaughter, one count of DUI with serious bodily injury and one count of possession of alcohol by a person younger than 21.

The suspect, of St. Petersburg, is being held at the Pinellas County Jail on $220,250 bail.

About 12:45 a.m. Aug. 1, the suspect was at the wheel of a 2001 Chevrolet Impala traveling an estimated 80 mph before running a red light at 22nd Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., where he crashed into a 2010 Ford Fusion, authorities said.

In the Fusion were four men from Orlando. All four died in the wreck.

Immediately after the wreck, the suspect waived his Miranda rights and said he had a plastic cup of Amsterdam liquor mixed with Four Loko, an alcoholic beverage. He also said he had smoked marijuana, police said.

The suspect was taken to Bayfront Medical Center after the wreck, where he had his blood drawn for medical purposes. From that, officers learned his blood-alcohol percent was 0.154, according to an affidavit by Michael Robertson, a traffic homicide investigator.

The legal limit for a driver in Florida is 0.08.

In the affidavit, Robertson sought and obtained a judge’s permission to have analyzed the suspect’s urine and blood samples, taken at the hospital, to determine the level of alcohol and other controlled substances in his system.

In another affidavit, Robertson asked for and obtained a judge’s permission to have examined a cell phone found outside Jordan’s Impala after the wreck. The suspect had said he had been at the home of a person named Kim in the Clearwater-Largo area before the wreck, and that Kim’s cell phone number would be in his phone.

Robertson wants the cell phone examined so he can track down anyone Jordan spoke to before the wreck and determine whether they saw Jordan drink and how much. The phone is also believed to contain phone numbers of people Jordan frequently spoke with. Robertson wants to speak with them, too.

First admission of guilt and now a blood alcohol sample registering off the charts. Speaking as a Florida DUI attorney, this would be one tough DUI case to beat, but I’m sure it is beatable nonetheless. Updates as they are available.

If you have been accused of drunk driving in St. Petersburg or elsewhere in Pinellas County we can help you. Although we hope you aren’t accused of something as serious as DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide, we will represent you aggressively and effectively as we do with all our clients.

Contact a Pinellas County DUI attorney at our firm today for a free and confidential consultation.

Source

Charged with DUI in St. Petersburg? Contact a St. Petersburg DUI lawyer at our firm today. Free consultation available.

The 20-year-old St. Petersburg driver accused of drunkenly running a red light and killing a father and his three sons this weekend was released from a hospital Tuesday night and taken to the Pinellas County Jail.

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The suspect was booked into the jail at 8:30 p.m., according to jail officials. He was placed in one of the more than 400 beds in the jail’s inmate health care facility.

He faces four counts of DUI manslaughter, a charge of DUI resulting in serious bodily injury and a misdemeanor count of possession of alcohol by a person under the age of 21.

A judge set his bail at $220,250.

The suspect suffered unspecified injuries in the early Sunday morning crash that St. Petersburg police said took the lives of 3 men from Orange County.

The victims had rented a house on Redington Beach this past weekend with their wives, children and the youngest son’s girlfriend. Then Saturday night the men went to see the movie Predators at BayWalk.
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