Florida takes drunken driving very seriously. When a drunken driver accidentally kills someone, the Florida legislature decided to add a 4-year mandatory/minimum sentence for DUI manslaughter. In Florida, DUI manslaughter is a 2nd-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. After conviction, there is also a mandatory lifetime driver license revocation. If others are injured or killed, more prison time can be added for these offenses. Often, a drunken driver faces multiple charges in an accident caused by their driving while intoxicated.
The Naples News reports on an Immokalee man arrested following a deadly suspected-DUI crash.
26-year-old Alfonso Chavez Velasquez was released from Lee Memorial Hospital on Monday and was immediately arrested. He is facing several charges, which include one count of DUI manslaughter, three counts of DUI serious injury, three counts of no valid driver’s license causing injury, and one count of no valid driver’s license involving death.
Each of the charges stems from a rear-end crash that occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on April 6th.
Velasquez was driving a Dodge Caravan northbound on State Road 29 just north of Immokalee. At the same time, a box truck was headed northbound on the same roadway at a slower speed.
Velasquez failed to slow down and hit the box truck from behind. This forced the Caravan onto the median.
46-year-old Benito Chavez Rojas, who was a passenger in the minivan, was killed in the accident. Three other passengers suffered from serious injuries in the crash and were taken to local hospitals.
The driver of the box truck was not injured.
