Impaired Driver's Antics Caught On Video

Warning: The video contains graphic imagery.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has released video captured by its aviation unit during the Saturday arrest of an accused impaired driver after a hit-and-run crash.

The video’s release is meant to stand as “a sobering reminder to all motorists of who they just might be sharing the road with,” Sheriff Tom Knight said in an email to media. The video is also hoped to remind those who are impaired – by alcohol or other substances – to think twice before driving, the email added.

The footage in question was taken shortly after Aaron Proulx, 22, is accused of causing a hit-and-run crash on 47th Street near U.S. 301 just before 11 p.m. Deputies say the victim in the case was able to get Proulx’s tag number and the aviation unit quickly caught up with the vehicle in the area of Cheshire Lane in Sarasota. The unit’s surveillance cameras kept rolling as Proulx got out of his vehicle.

“When the driver exited the vehicle he could not even stand, quickly fell to the ground and was unable to get up,” the email noted. “His passenger, who tried to assist him, appeared to be in the same condition as she eventually fell, as well. The pair remain on the ground throughout repeated attempts to get up.”

Proulx later told deputies he had no recollection of getting into an accident and told them he was coming home from Throb, an arrest report stated.

Following a number of field exercises and breath tests that resulted in .228 and .222 blood alcohol level results, Proulx was charged with DUI with property damage and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, the report said. He was booked into the Sarasota County Jail and later released on bond.

The motorist stuck in the hit-and-run crash was not seriously injured. His vehicle, however, suffered damage.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office