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Driver defies rules of the road
By TAMARA LUSH © St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001 When Steven John Bartlett climbs behind the wheel, bad things happen. He's not exaggerating. Bartlett has been driving in Florida for 13 years. In not one of those years has he had a valid license. He has never been insured. He has two DUIs. He injured a woman in a crash and fled the scene. He owes traffic fines totaling $2,675. Officials have suspended or revoked his license at least 23 times. "When I do drive is when I get caught," Bartlett said. Bartlett has an explanation. "I don't have no luck," he said. "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have none." On Jan. 14, what Bartlett calls bad luck came in the form of an expired tag on his truck. A Pasco County sheriff's deputy pulled him over. The deputy discovered Bartlett's extensive record and charged the 43-year-old concrete worker with being a habitual offender. Bartlett had an explanation for that, as well. "I gotta live. I gotta make a living," said Bartlett, during a recent interview from the Pasco County jail. "There isn't a bus that stops by my house and says, "Are you ready to go to work?" Drivers like Bartlett -- people who repeatedly scoff at the law and drive despite racking up dozens of minor violations -- frustrate police, motor vehicle officials and judges. On several occasions, Pasco County Judge William Sestak said he has suspended a person's license, and the person walks out of the courtroom and gets behind the wheel. "We've had them arrested in the parking lot," he said. These drivers generally commit victimless crimes and don't usually hurt anybody, yet they have an effect on society by not playing by the same rules as everyone else, said Pilar Delp, a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Tallahassee. "This guy just continues to drive and get tickets left and right," Delp said of Bartlett. "I don't believe that anything, aside from incarceration, will be a deterrent for this individual, because his track record doesn't give you much hope." Bartlett's driving record is lengthy and confusing. It dates back to 1988, when he was charged with driving without a license by Pinellas Park Police. Since then, his license has been suspended and revoked 23 times, largely due to non-payment of traffic fines, failing to appear for court hearings and racking up new charges. Bartlett owes $2,675 in traffic fines, according to the Clerk of Court's office. He owes another $200 in court fines. He also has been charged twice with driving under the influence of alcohol and five times with operating a vehicle without a tag. In 1994, he got into a crash that injured a woman and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Bartlett fled the scene of the crash after injuring a woman driving another car. Alcohol was detected on Bartlett's breath, troopers said. A judge revoked his license and ordered Bartlett to serve two year's probation and undergo substance abuse counseling. Bartlett violated his probation twice, according to court records. He served 80 days in the county jail for violating his probation, but received no prison time. Bartlett's "bad luck" with the law extends beyond his driving record. In 1999, Bartlett went to prison on criminal mischief and firebombing charges. In January 1998, Bartlett and another man threw Molotov cocktails, flaming bottles filled with gasoline, at a mobile home because Bartlett thought the man inside had stolen a motorcycle from them. The arson charge, as part of a plea deal, was reduced to criminal mischief. Bartlett pleaded no contest to criminal mischief and firebombing and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Bartlett said he was just along for the ride with his buddy and didn't take part in the criminal activity. Bartlett does confess that when it comes to his driving record, he has run afoul of the law on occasion. "I'm not saying I'm an angel," he said. "But I'm not all what they're trying to make me out to be." Bartlett is still in jail, unable to post $5,000 bail. If convicted of his most recent felony charge of being a habitual offender, he could serve time in state prison. Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said it takes enormous amounts of time and staffing to arrest and re-arrest people like Bartlett. He said it is nearly impossible to stop someone from driving illegally. "We don't have the resources to post a deputy outside his house and make sure he doesn't drive," Powers said. "The courts, the state and law enforcement haven't had a whole lot of effect on this guy. "It is his responsibility to make sure that he conforms to the law." It's not inconceivable that if Bartlett stays out of trouble, his luck could change. According to Delp, Bartlett could get his Florida driver's license in the year 2003, when his most recent five-year revocation period ends. In Florida, the only way officials can suspend a person's license for life is if the person is convicted of drunken driving four times, or if a person is convicted of killing someone while driving drunk. "If in the remote event that (Bartlett) paid all the fines and waited out all of the time for revocations to expire, (and took) advanced driver improvement courses," Delp said, "he could get a Florida driver's license issued to him." - Tamara Lush is the police reporter in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is lush@sptimes.com.
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