Florida deaf man charged with DUI manslaughter in wrong-way crash
I received multiple news tips that a deaf man, Alexander B. Jacobson, was charged with two counts of DUI manslaughter after he crashed into another car and killed two men inside of it.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that police said Jacobson was intoxicated and driving the wrong way about 3 a.m. on Sunday morning at Tampa International Airport when he collided head-on with a sedan.
Tampa Police Department tweeted yesterday early morning an image of an overturned SUV on one shoulder of a two-lane road with a wrecked vehicle on the other shoulder.
A Fox 35 news video showed a completely flattened sedan and a totaled black Jeep Wrangler being towed. The sedan was a ride-share vehicle, driven by probably either an Uber or a Lyft driver, who had a passenger. It is not yet known their identities. Jacobson drove the Jeep.
Fox 35 also shared a person who posted on Facebook a photo of Jacobson sitting on the side of the road and wearing beads. It seems like the beads were from a Tampa-area festival called Gasparilla.
Hillsborough County Jail records show that Jacobson was charged with two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of vehicular homicide.
Spectrum 9 News reported that police records show that police tested his breath four times. He breathed just over the .08 legal limit twice, but also breathed below the limit twice. There was a blood draw and the results are pending.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that records showed that Jacobson smelled like marijuana and that his blood alcohol tests were taken more than four hours after the crash. Jacobson was not seriously injured. He told police that he had two IPA beers about four hours earlier at an Ybor City bar. Police said he “performed poorly on field sobriety exercises.”
A person from the deaf community sent me images of a Snapchat account named “Alex Jacobson” that had posts of a man that resembled the mug shot from the arrest. The posts included pictures and videos of alcoholic beverages, rolling papers, a party scene, and a final post that shows a hand on a steering wheel of a black SUV-looking vehicle as it traveled on a highway by a vehicle. There was a caption that said, “Slow a**.”
WFLA reported that Jacobson appeared in Hillsborough County Court this (Monday) morning and had his bond set at $150,000. Judge Catherine M. Catlin said a report said he had Gasparilla beads and a band and “here we are, post-Gasparilla.”
As of this afternoon, he is still in jail. Each of his four charges has a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, so he is facing up to 60 years if convicted on all charges.
Jacobson’s current residence is in Land O Lakes, Florida.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Jacobson was arrested in 2012 in Minnesota with a DUI, leaving the scene of a traffic crash and driving with an expired registration, but was convicted on a careless driving charge and had his other charges dismissed. Two years earlier, he was found guilty of marijuana possession in a motor vehicle.
Fox 35: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/police-wrong-way-drunk-driver-kills-2-in-tampa-airport-crash
WFLA: https://www.wfla.com/news/local-news/double-fatal-crash-at-entrance-to-tampa-airport/
Tampa PD Twitter: https://twitter.com/TampaPD/status/1221387021203263488/photo/1
Spectrum 9: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/public-safety/2020/01/27/driver-charged-with-vehicular-homicide-in-wrong-way-crash-at-tampa-airport-to-face-judge
Hillsborough County Judge: https://www.fljud13.org/JudicialDirectory/CatherineMCatlin.aspx
Tampa Bay Times: https://www.tampabay.com/news/breaking-news/2020/01/26/two-dead-in-crash-outside-tampa-airport-entrance-closed/
https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2020/01/27/victims-in-wrong-way-crash-at-tampa-international-airport-were-in-a-ride-share-car-police-say/