An Ocala Police Department officer is on paid administrative leave while the agency investigates the way he handled an encounter with two brothers shortly before they were involved in a crash that killed a mother and her grown son.
Police Chief Mike Balken discussed the case on Sept. 30 during a news conference at the police department.
According to police and the officer's body camera footage, copies of which was released to the media, the officer – name not yet disclosed – found the brothers standing on the sidewalk on College Road/State Road 200 in front of the Ocala West shopping center.
It was about 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, and the men were arguing. Meanwhile, their van was parked on the side of the road, blocking a lane of traffic.
The officer
questioned the men, who assured him they were just heading home after celebrating the driver's birthday. They said they were engaged in some unspecified misunderstanding when the officer encountered them.
Two other officers later joined the primary officer. Those officers' names have not been released, either.
The chief said he has reviewed the body camera footage. The footage indicates "that both brothers had been drinking earlier in the night and may have been impaired," Balken said.
"Unfortunately, and for reasons I cannot yet explain, the officers failed to investigate a possible DUI or question the driver's level of intoxication" before letting the driver and his brother leave the scene, Balken said. "The brothers were allowed to drive away, and within minutes, their vehicle struck and killed the victims."
The fatal crash happened about 5 miles away, at Maricamp Road and Southeast 36th Avenue.
According to police, a Mazda SUV occupied by De Lawn Marshall Duncan, 50, and her son Eric Derick Maurice McGill, 31, was traveling west on Maricamp and turning left onto 36th Avenue. The brothers, in a Dodge minivan, were traveling east on Maricamp Road. The crash happened at the intersection.
"We have taken immediate steps to launch a full internal affairs investigation into this devastating incident," the chief said. "I have personally met with the victims' family to share these findings, and reviewed the body-cam footage with them. For full transparency, we are releasing this footage to the media tonight."
The two other officers have not been placed on leave.
As for the brothers, ages 24 and 33, Balken said the driver is at the hospital in serious condition, and the other suffered minor injuries. Their names were not released by police.
Will the man who was driving face criminal charges? The chief said the investigation is ongoing.
Addressing the victims' family
To the victims' family, the chief said: "I cannot express how deeply disappointed I am with this situation, and I want our community to know that we are taking every necessary step to investigate thoroughly and address any mistakes that contributed to this terrible loss."
He added: "We owe it to the families involved and this community to address these failures head-on and ensure mistakes like this never happen again."
The chief further said: "To the family who lost their loved ones, I am profoundly sorry. I wish we had done more to prevent this tragedy, and I extend my sincerest condolences during this unimaginable time."
The chief said the internal affairs investigation will take some time. He said he has spoken with prosecutors to see if the primary officer could face any criminal charges. The answer was no.
He said the victims' family members understandably are in shock, and they're upset with what happened.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: What we know about the Ocala police stop before Sept. 29 fatal crash
