STUART — Nine years ago, a drunk Donald Flewellen drove a stolen van across the center line, causing a collision that killed two people and left illegal Guatemalan immigrant Luis Jimenez permanently brain damaged.

Less than four months after his December release from prison for two counts of DUI manslaughter, authorities say Flewellen, 52, was behind the wheel of a borrowed car and caused a hit-and-run crash with property damage in Fort Pierce.

Already charged with two counts of violating his supervised release, court papers show when Flewellen returns to court Aug. 17, he’ll face additional charges of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and driving on a revoked driver’s license related to an April 5 traffic collision.

Flewellen currently is being held on no bond at the Martin County jail. Records show he was apprehended May 14 in Broward County by the U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force and charged with failing to report a change of address while living in Fort Pierce, and leaving his manager’s job at a dive shop without notifying probation officials.

After a hit-and-run investigation conducted by Fort Pierce Police Officer Todd Warner, Flewellen was arrested again June 24.

An assistant public defender representing Flewellen has entered pleas of not guilty on his behalf, records show.

According to a complaint affidavit, Warner identified Jose DeSouza as the owner of the damaged 1999 silver Chevy Camero allegedly driven by Flewellen April 5. The men were neighbors at an apartment building at the 1100 block of South Ocean Drive in Fort Pierce.

DeSouza feared reporting the car’s damage, Warner was told, “due to his residency status.”

While questioning residents, Warner found Flewellen outside the apartments, but when confronted, he repeatedly said his name was “John Jonathan,” Warner’s report stated.

Flewellen “had a drink in his hand and he appeared to be slightly intoxicated,” he noted. “We then went around and around with his name as he had trouble remembering who he was.”

Flewellen, Warner reported, eventually admitted his identity but denied driving or causing a crash.

Court papers show Flewellen has a history of alcohol-related driving convictions, in 1984 in Lake County, and a 1986 conviction in Georgia. His record includes convictions for burglary, forgery, robbery and grand larceny and other misdemeanor charges.

In 2001, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for two DUI manslaughter convictions and other counts stemming from the State Road 76 collision that severely impaired Jimenez, who lived at Martin Memorial Hospital for nearly three years before being returned to Guatemala in 2003.

By Melissa E. Holsman

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Courts, Crime, Fort Pierce, Martin County, Traffic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.