Two men struck by a DUI driver while helping another DUI driver

Reckless Sleep Driving

The incident happened on Saturday between 12:30 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. when two people were hit by a DUI driver according to Palm Bay Police. One was a Brevard Country paramedic and the other was a witness. They were helping a DUI driver when they were struck by another DUI driver. The accident happened because the DUI driver was sleeping behind the wheel of his vehicle near the intersection of Palm Bay and Minton roads.

According to the Palm Bay Police Department, Lt. James Richmond, people who saw the man slumped over the wheel of his car tried to wake him and called 9-1-1. Four witnesses were present at the place of the accident. The rescue workers also tried to wake him up and started medical treatment. While they were giving him treatment, Brian Tyrone Washington crashed into the scene and hit the firefighter and one of the witnesses, a woman present at the scene to help the sleeping DUI driver. They both got injured and were taken to the Palm Bay Community Hospital for treatment. The injuries were minor and non-life threatening.

Other witnesses present at the scene told that they thought Washington will not have ever stopped if a sign did not get in his way. One witness, Tyler Milam said that “I was looking at the other guy, making sure, like, seeing what he was doing because he looked like he was going to drive away. He had his head out the window and kept looking back, like he was about to drive off again. But the sign was under his car. He kept going forward and backing up and going forward and backing up”.

45-year-old Brian Washington was arrested for DUI as police officers found that he was driving under influence. He may be charged for the damages also.

Floyd Burke, a Palm Bay police officer, told that a field sobriety test was performed on the disabled driver who was sleeping. The contents of his coffee mug were tested and he was not able to walk on a straight line. Police arrested him and he was charged with DUI and bodily harm.

The name of the DUI driver who was sleeping and names of victims of the accident were not released by the Palm Bay police.

According to the Brevard County Fire officials, the two people injured in the incident are expected to be just fine.