STATE: Lafayette sheriff again suspended after DUI arrest

MAYO - A North Florida sheriff who served a seven-month suspension last year for multiple incidents of drunken public behavior was suspended again Monday by Gov. Jeb Bush after new drunken driving charges.

Lafayette County Sheriff Dwayne Walker, 43, was charged with DUI early Sunday in Tampa. He was released from Hillsborough County Jail shortly before noon after posting $250 bail.

Walker refused to submit a blood alcohol test, according to jail records.

Sgt. John Young of the Lafayette Sheriff's Office said Walker was not at work Monday. Walker did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Gov. Jeb Bush suspended Walker last August from his $88,000-a-year job after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated several incidents of allegedly drunken behavior involving the sheriff. The investigation was prompted when Walker spent a night at a Mayo club, drinking in uniform with his gun tucked into his belt.

Walker, who is serving his third elected term, was reinstated by Bush on March 21 after undergoing treatment.

Bush's Monday executive order suspending Walker said the sheriff gave false statements to FDLE during the course of its investigation and "has committed acts that constitute drunkenness, neglect of duty, malfeasance, and misfeasance."

Walker's current term is scheduled to end in 2004.

Police seek three who fled fatal hit-run collision

LAKELAND - Police are searching for three occupants of a stolen car that sped into an intersection and broadsided another car, killing its 20-year-old driver.

Officers think the three people in the stolen 1995 Mercury Cougar hit their heads on its windshield in the Sunday morning collision and might have sought medical treatment. But there were no leads in the case Monday, Lakeland police spokesman Jack Gillen said.

Alexander Gacina of Lakeland was killed in the crash. He was driving his 1996 Mazda through the intersection of Kathleen Road and W 10th Street about 1:20 a.m. when he was hit by the Cougar, which was going an estimated 60 mph in a 35 mph zone, police said.

The accident was witnessed by Gacina's friends, Kyle Cross and John Browning, who were driving behind him on Kathleen Road. They said the Cougar ran a red light. Cross said they yelled at three persons who ran from the crash, but they didn't stop.

Gillen said detectives think the three are juveniles. Police said the Cougar was stolen earlier this month.

Sarasota man is state's 15th suspected SARS case

SARASOTA - A 58-year-old Sarasota County man who recently traveled to Toronto is Florida's newest suspected case of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, the state Department of Health said Monday.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, has been released from a hospital and is under a self-imposed quarantine at home, Health Department spokesman Rob Hayes said.

Florida now has recorded 15 suspected and two probable cases of the flu-like illness, Hayes said.

Toronto is the epicenter of the biggest SARS outbreak outside Asia. Most of Canada's more than 140 SARS cases and all 21 deaths have been in the Toronto area. The World Health Organization is warning against nonessential travel to Canada's largest city.

Worldwide, SARS has killed more than 290 people and sickened more than 4,600. In the United States, there have been 41 probable cases but no deaths.

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

Special Links

Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk