Police say the man admitted drinking before overturning his truck on Causeway Boulevard.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published July 31, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - The driver of a pickup that plunged into a swamp off Causeway Boulevard on May 26, killing a Tampa man, will face charges of DUI manslaughter.
Jeffrey Lauren Schaer, 22, of 20840 Chisholm Trail, admitted to drinking three beers before the accident, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
The accident occurred about 7 p.m. on Memorial Day.
Schaer, who was carrying two passengers, steered his pickup into the opposing lane along a twisting stretch of Causeway Boulevard. Trying to right the truck, he rolled it onto its roof in the overgrown canal, the highway patrol said.
Schaer and Ryan Burby, 21, of Land O'Lakes, broke free from the truck. Gary Teets Jr., 31, died.
Schaer had blood drawn at the scene. According to the highway patrol, his blood alcohol level was 0.17, more than twice the 0.08 level at which someone is presumed impaired in Florida.
Schaer, charged Tuesday, was released the same day on $10,000 bail from the Pasco County jail at Land O'Lakes.
Causeway Boulevard acquired the name "Dead Man's Road" in the 1980s after several people crashed and drowned in the roadside canal.
The county later installed guardrails along part of the road, but not at the spot where Schaer overturned.
