First published at 11:06 UTC on July 22nd, 2021.
9 Investigates why a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office captain wasn’t given a medical evaluation or sobriety test after being found passed out in traffic, his engine running and his foot on the brake, at a Seminole County intersection.
Channel 9 inv…
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9 Investigates why a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office captain wasn’t given a medical evaluation or sobriety test after being found passed out in traffic, his engine running and his foot on the brake, at a Seminole County intersection.
Channel 9 investigative reporter Karla Ray was the only one to obtain video of the incident, which shows a responding deputy giving the captain a fist bump before sending him on his way.
An agency spokesperson said responding deputies did not believe the driver was impaired or having a medical complication, but there is no way to know for sure, because no screenings were done.
On July 8, not far from Chuluota along County Road 419, concerned drivers called deputies and firefighters to check on a driver in an SUV.
The man behind the wheel wasn’t moving, but the vehicle wasn’t in park, so two Seminole County deputies used their vehicles to box it in, before pounding on the window for a full minute to wake the driver.
“He either ODed or asleep?” one deputy speculated on body camera video.
The driver’s face is blurred in the video provided by the sheriff’s office, but we learned it is Capt. Kip Beacham, who oversees the Community Justice and Rehabilitation Division, according to the sheriff’s office website. He is a 24-year-veteran with the agency.
“Did you fall asleep? What happened?” a responding deputy questioned before realizing who the driver was.
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