Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Alcohol not only puts a driver at risk and threatens the safety of others on the road, it can also impair a person’s judgment to the extent that the driver places the lives of his or her own children in peril.

Police report: Jacksonville father arrested on DUI charge was driving with his children.

A 41-year-old Jacksonville man was charged with driving drunk with his three young children, ages 5, 6, and 9 in the car with him, the Florida Times -Union reports. He was also charged with hit-and-run after the children informed their mother that their father had “hit a car at Target,” according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office.

Police spotted Oscar Adolfo Gomez driving his Toyota erratically on Collins Road at Ortega Bluff Parkway shortly before 9 PM on Friday. When they pulled him over, they observed that Gomez’s speech was slurred and he emitted a strong odor of alcohol, the sheriff’s report states. The three children were in the passenger side and rear seats of the car.

Dispatchers matched the car to a reported hit-and-run accident where the Toyota had allegedly rear-ended another car. This was confirmed when the victim of the hit-and-run was taken to the scene and identified the car as the one that hit her on San Jose Boulevard then drove off over the Buckman Bridge.

Gomez was charged with DUI while accompanied by a minor, DUI causing damage, leaving the scene of an accident, and careless driving. The children were released to their mother.

Gomez told police he had three beers and had taken codeine. He has a history of traffic violations.

Being under the influence is one of the common causes of a driver leaving the scene of an accident.

Information about Florida’s tough DUI laws can be found at http://jimdodsonlaw.com/2011/09/07/florida-dui-laws/