Drunk driver swapped seats with passenger after crash that killed one, Florida cops say
.jpg "A driver switched seats with his passenger after a deadly crash, a Florida sheriff’s office said. He appeared “highly intoxicated,” according to an arrest report.")
New evidence has surfaced in a 2021 fatal crash that shows a man involved was actually behind the wheel and had switched places with his passenger after the crash, according to an arrest affidavit.
Adam Wayne Garabrant, 60, was arrested on Dec. 15 and is facing a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death in connection with the Dec. 16, 2021 crash in Seminole that killed Thomas Rothwell, the arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says.
Francine Mashtare, 55, was arrested at the time of the crash and charged with DUI manslaughter, according to Pinellas County jail records. She was later released on a $20,000 bond.
The vehicle she and Garabrant were traveling in struck Rothwell, 70, while he walked in a crosswalk just after 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2021, according to the Tampa Bay Times. When authorities arrived, Mashtare was behind the wheel and “showed signs of impairment,” the outlet reported in 2021.
But surveillance video from a bar shows Garabrant leaving the establishment minutes before the crash and getting behind the wheel of the 2014 Camaro that was involved, the affidavit says.
After the crash, the car left the scene and came back with Mashtare behind the wheel and Garabrant as a passenger, the affidavit says. He appeared “highly intoxicated,” according to police.
Garabrant would not have had time to switch places with his passenger between the time he left the bar and the time of the crash, the affidavit says.
The owner of the bar where Garabrant had been before the crash told investigators that Garabrant went to the bar a few days later and told him that he was the one who should have been arrested, the affidavit says. He also asked the bar owner to tell law enforcement that he’d only had two beers.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office did not say whether Mashtare’s charge will be dropped.
Garabrant was released on a $50,000 bond, according to Pinellas County Jail records.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Drunk driver swapped seats with passenger after crash that killed one, Florida cops say."