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Detective resigns days after car crash
By BRADY DENNIS © St. Petersburg Times, published April 5, 2001 INVERNESS -- This much is certain: About 1 a.m. on March 25, Kenneth Perez, a veteran detective with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, wrecked his unmarked patrol car near West Grover Cleveland Boulevard and South Ohio Avenue in Homosassa. Despite causing $2,500 damage, Perez drove the car home. Nine hours later, about 10 a.m., Perez called his supervisor to report the crash, sheriff's spokeswoman Ronda Hemminger Evan said. A crash report wasn't completed until 12:45 p.m., nearly 12 hours after the wreck. Two days later, on March 27, Perez resigned, citing personal reasons. Perez, who was on call but off duty the night of the wreck, told Sheriff Jeff Dawsy he was coming home from visiting a cousin. According to the crash report, Perez said he fell asleep while driving east on Grover Cleveland. He drove off the right side of the road about 50 mph and hit a metal speed limit sign with the front of his car, the report stated. Perez said he overcorrected and crossed over the north shoulder of the road, where he spun sideways and slammed into a tree with the right side of the car, according to the report. Perez, who worked in the criminal investigations division, was not injured. Evan said alcohol was not a factor. Perez never was tested for alcohol or drugs. Why not? "Due to it being investigated 12 hours after the accident, we wouldn't be able to conduct a test of that nature," Evan said. "Right now, we investigated the accident as it was reported to us." Perez was sent home March 26 and suspended with pay while an investigation of the crash was completed. The next day, he sent a four-sentence letter to Dawsy announcing his resignation from the department, effective immediately. "As you are aware, I have been experiencing some personal problems with my family and I feel that the best course of action for me at this time is to take some time off and straighten out these family issues," Perez wrote. "Hopefully, after I have accomplished this, I can reapply and return to this agency in the future." Evan said Perez was cited only for failure to use due care. The Sheriff's Office insurance will cover the damage to the car, so he will not be responsible for paying repair costs. Evan said Perez's decision to wait nine hours before reporting the accident would have been a focus of the investigation. But after he resigned, she said, it became irrelevant. "That certainly is what would have been under review," Evan said. "But before we could review all the pending information, Detective Perez resigned." Perez could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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