Driver in fatal wreck arrested on DUI charges

The Palm Harbor resident, whose truck flipped, is accused of DUI manslaughter and DUI with serious injuries.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 20, 2002

CLEARWATER -- A Palm Harbor man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with a fatal car crash in October.

Michael N. Symons, 28, was arrested Thursday morning on charges of DUI manslaughter and DUI with serious injuries. He also was charged with tampering with a witness because, investigators say, he harassed a witness to the Oct. 13 crash at Curlew Road and Country Woods Lane.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office investigators say Symons was driving his GMC Yukon home after a Bucs game that day. The roads were slick that evening from an afternoon rain, and investigators say Symons was driving too fast for the conditions.

In the vehicle were John McCarthy, 36, and Kevin Cribbs, 21. All three men had been drinking that day, investigators said.

Symons lost control of the Yukon, which then slid down an embankment, flipped several times, clipped two trees and landed on a brick wall. McCarthy died three weeks later at Bayfront Medical Center. Cribbs was badly hurt, but survived.

Investigators say Symons told rescuers at the crash scene and a deputy at the hospital that he had been driving the Yukon. Still, investigators sent physical evidence to a lab to seal that conclusion, sheriff's officials said.

Symons has since said he can't remember whether he was driving, but Cribbs told investigators Symons was behind the wheel, said Sgt. Tim Pelella, a major accidents investigator for the Sheriff's Office.

Investigators found cans and bottles of beer -- open and unopen -- in the vehicle. Symons and McCarthy were not wearing seat belts and were ejected. Cribbs was buckled in on the front passenger seat, investigators said.

Arrest reports indicate blood drawn from the men at the hospital showed Symons had a blood-alcohol count of 0.138. A blood-alcohol level of 0.08 is the threshold at which Florida law presumes someone is unable to safely drive a motor vehicle.

McCarthy's blood-alcohol count was 0.20, while Cribbs' was 0.10, sheriff's officials said.

Arrest reports indicate Symons also harassed Cribbs at least three times while he was being treated at Bayfront after the crash, which hindered the investigation, arrest reports state.

Pelella said Symons called Cribbs in his hospital room and asked him not to talk to investigators.

Symons was being held at the Pinellas County Jail Thursday evening in lieu of $30,500 bail.

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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