Speakers tell of the tragedies of drunken driving during Martin community program
August 14th, 2009 by TCPalm.comSTUART — The image of a man’s arm wrapped around her front tire still haunts Jessica Leslie eight years later.
It was November 2001 when a 20-year old Leslie of Boca Raton was coming back from an evening of partying that she decided to drive home drunk. She told her story to a crowd of about four dozen at a Thursday community program at the Martin County Administrative Center on the dangers of drinking and driving.
Leslie never made it home but ran over Patrick McDonough, 41, killing him.
“Sir, did I kill somebody?” Leslie asked the deputy.
“Yes, ma’am you did,” he said.
Leslie, now 28 and who had been vice-president of her school’s Students Against Drunk Driving, plead guilty to DUI manslaughter, served 18 months in prison, and now spends her time speaking to students and anyone who will listen about the dangers of drinking and driving.
“I wanted to be in the United States Air Force to fight the war on terror,” she said. “Now, I’m fighting a different war where about 17,000 kids die a year.”
The program took place a little more than a week after three Stuart teens, Nicholas Coady,18, Christopher Briglio, 18, and Connor Graver, 16, were killed. The Florida Highway Patrol found several crushed beer cans at the crash scene and toxicology reports are pending.
Speaker Justin White, 17, was a friend of the three Stuart teens who died and also three Okeechobee County teens who were killed days earlier in a a drunk driving accident in the Florida Keys.
“I lost six friends in a matter of days,” said Justin, who started Martin County SADD (Student Against Destructive Decisions) on the online social network Facebook to honor his friends.
“I want the students to know that we’re not invincible. That’s why I’m doing this,” he said.
Speaker Beth Stone, whose daughter Sarah Stone 14, was killed in a 2002 crash by Stephen Bromstrup of Stuart who had been drinking and driving, urged those attending to make good choices and for parents to take a more active role in their children’s lives.
“It doesn’t just hurt the person involved in the crash… The families ache a lifetime and that person can never be replaced,” Stone said.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is doing everything it can to stop underage drinking, said Sgt. Mark Middleton.
The Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco conducts several undercover operations where underage persons attempt to buy alcohol at convenience stores. This year, 17 people have been arrested and charged with misdemeanor selling alcohol to minors, Middleton said.
Store clerks who are charged are taken to jail and their businesses are cited. After three citations in a month, the business owner is fined $1,000 and the store’s alcohol license is suspended for seven days. However if it is the store’s owner is selling to an underage person, the owner is arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, fined $1,000 and the store’s alcohol license is suspended, officials said.
Anyone who suspects a vendor is selling alcoholic beverages to underage youths can call the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Divisions at (772) 220-7060 or the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco at (772) 468-3927.
Thursday’s program was sponsored by The C.O.R.E Program, Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Shared Services Network.
By Keona Gardner, TCPalm.com
Tags: accident, alcohol, arrest, crash, deputies, dies, drinking, driving, dui, facebook, Florida, mother, parents, prison, SADD, Schools, Stuart, students, teen
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August 14th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I feel this is a very real concern. Also stricter punishment, education or rehab. should be on top of the priority list (zero tolerance -“1” strike you’re out)! A person (child) has only one life, and so do their survivors. The World is a different place TODAY, than it was 50 plus years ago. Why are our kids resorting to such destructiveness? How about raising the age a child can drive? How about mandatory drug and alcohol testing on our kids. Don’t look at testing as an invasion of privacy…Look at it as a potential life saving tool, until they are 21 yrs old.
An adult should pay the ultimate price when supplying underage, invincible, vulnerable “kids” alcohol. Not only can alcohol escalate to the sad story above, but it can also lead to a life-time of dependency, and bigger and better hard core drugs which can also potentially lead to criminal behavior, acts, AND then comes the need for more tax dollars for our criminal system, as “our kids “are now part of the system (SAD). Where does it end, why does it begin? Let’s take responsibility, let’s help? Adults, as well as our kids must respect “our law”, or WHY HAVE A LAW? Kids will be kids, what they may do behind an adults back can be frightening enough, don’t confuse their “minds” by helping them not follow the law, or save their life or possibly someone else’s. These are our “GOOD KIDS” next generation, there are NO BOUNDARIES regarding mind altering substances and the consequences that may follow. My sincere heartfelt thoughts & prayers for the survivors of this horrific incident.
A Member of MADD in 2006 (A mom who understands)!