Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse charged with DUI after alleged drunken crash
Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse has been charged with driving under the influence in connection to an April 20 crash that totaled his pickup truck, the State Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon.
Kruse, who crashed his vehicle just inside the subdivision where he lives, was not arrested at the time, even though video shows Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies working the case suspected him to be drunk.
Kruse, 46, is due to appear in court on July 19, a state attorney’s office spokesperson said.
The State Attorney’s Office made the announcement “due to the public interest shown in the case and in response to our frequent media inquiries.”
In a previous interview with the Bradenton Herald, Kruse denied drinking before the crash, which happened around 7:30 p.m.
Body camera footage and a recording of the 911 call appear to show Kruse slurring his words as he answers questions. According to the sheriff’s office’s investigation report, an arrest could not be made at the time because Kruse was not behind the wheel of his vehicle when deputies arrived on the scene.
DUI experts point to ‘unusual’ case
“The dude freaking crashed into a tree. He’s drunk,” one deputy said. “I just can’t do a DUI because no one can put him behind the wheel. When I got here, he was in his wife’s car.”
In an audio recording of the 911 emergency call, Kruse’s wife can be heard ushering him out of the vehicle. Bodycam footage shows the interview taking place in the back seat of her vehicle.
However, the sheriff’s office’s handling of the case came under scrutiny from local DUI attorneys after learning that a field sobriety test had not been conducted.
Speaking with the Bradenton Herald, DUI experts said it was “unusual” that Kruse admitted to driving the vehicle but escaped having to take a breathalyzer or similar sobriety test.
“It’s a very unusual case. It’s almost like law enforcement didn’t want to pursue the DUI and they gave him a break,” said Ajay Pallegar, a DUI lawyer with 15 years of experience. “He’s very lucky. He’s very fortunate.”
Even without a field sobriety test, local attorneys said DUI convictions are possible without that evidence, as long as prosecutors are able to prove that the driver’s faculties were impaired at the time.
Responding officers believed Kruse to be drunk
An incident report noted that Kruse showed signs of impairment in the moments immediately after the crash.
“George appears to have glassy eyes, slurred speech, clammy wet skin, and droopy eyelids,” an investigator wrote.
The bodycam footage — first made public by the Bradenton Herald — also captures a lieutenant explaining to Kruse’s wife that he is aware of Kruse’s role in Manatee County government and that he believes Kruse was drunk when he crashed the vehicle.
“I know who your husband is, OK, and this could have turned out very badly. He needs to be more cognizant of that,” the lieutenant told Kruse’s wife. “I am a trained traffic investigator. There is no reason he should have been driving.”
After striking a tree on the wrong side of the road, Kruse was able to walk away from the accident with only a citation for careless driving. The commissioner recently agreed to attend a 4-hour traffic school course after receiving that ticket, court records show.
The sheriff’s office’s follow-up investigation also revealed that Kruse gave conflicting statements about what caused the crash. Speaking with a deputy on the scene, Kruse claimed a driver cut him off, forcing him to swerve, but Kruse’s insurance company told an investigator that the commissioner said he swerved to avoid an animal in the street.
Kruse was elected in 2020 to a four-year term as an at-large commissioner on the Manatee Board of County Commissioners, which is on summer recess until July 26.
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 4:36 PM.
