“He’s an idiot,” said Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods in an interview with the Bob Rose Show on Audacy station WSKY in Florida. “I’m being very polite because we’re on radio, but he is an idiot that doesn’t deserve to have a vehicle to drive, to even be out there.”
Woods was talking about 41-year-old Bryan Maclean Howard, a man who was arrested and charged with eight counts of driving under the influence for a crash that killed eight farm workers and injured others. According to records from the sheriff’s office alone, Howard has an arrest history going back to at least 2005. Reports have indicated it goes back to 2003.
Howard was most recently arrested Tuesday, said Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner in a press release. Kerner said that Howard was driving a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck on State Road 40 at around 6:35 a.m. Tuesday when he collided with a 2010 International Bus carrying approximately 53 employees of a farming company.
“Initial investigation reveals that the two vehicles made contact in a sideswipe type collision. Post collision, the bus traveled off the roadway, through a fence, and then overturned,” said Kerner in the release. “Currently, eight people have been confirmed deceased and approximately 40 people have been transported to local medical facilities.”
By 1:47 p.m., state troopers assigned to the FHP Northern Region Specialized Investigations and Reconstruction Team (SIRT) had arrested Bryan Maclean Howard. He was charged with eight counts of driving under the influence/manslaughter.
“You know, everybody automatically assumes that it’s alcohol that’s involved when you see DUI,” said Sheriff Woods. “The truth is, in this case, that’s not it. It is DUI manslaughter because he was impaired when they had enough… probable cause is what we call it. They had enough probable cause to make the arrest under that. But basically, he was under the influence of drugs.”
A 2009 arrest of Howard was also related to drug possession. Woods said voters should take note of this incident when they decide to weigh in on making some substances legal for recreational use.
The sheriff also said he believes the tragic incident could have been prevented if Howard had been held accountable in his past. Making offenders pay for crimes they have committed is a crucial step for overall community safety, he argued.
“Everybody thinks I’m just some hard-nosed individual when it comes to this, but it needs to be identified either before or as soon as an arrest,” Woods said. Because… I may make this clear, [there] is there is no excuse. I don’t care what they’ve done, how bad the addiction is, there’s no excuse.”
However, he said that inmates can get access to programs that will help them heal and move forward. As of Wednesday, Howard was still in custody.
“I’ve seen people who change their lives,” he said. “And coming out of the jail, I’ve seen individuals in my county that that take that step forward. And they got to have the courage to do it.”
Regarding those who perished in the crash, Kerner said this: “Identities of the deceased will be released pending next of kin notification. Our sympathies and prayers are with the families of the deceased. Consistent with our duties, the Florida Highway Patrol will conduct both a thorough and exhaustive traffic crash and criminal investigation”