In a devastating turn of events, retired Polk County Sheriff's Office sergeant Dan Cooley was struck and killed by a driver suspected of being intoxicated, as detailed by multiple sources. Cooley, aged 69, had stopped his vehicle on Van Fleet Drive in Bartow to retrieve a fallen tote from the road, a move that would fatally place him in the path of oncoming traffic.

Around 7:40 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day, tragedy struck when Aaron Wells, 50, of Winter Haven, collided with Cooley while behind the wheel of a 2008 Jaguar S-type, reported The Ledger. Deputies arriving at the scene detected an alcoholic odor from Wells, with signs of impairment evident during field sobriety tests. Wells had slurred speech and watery eyes, adding to the gravity of the circumstances. Despite the efforts of first responders, who administered multiple life-saving measures, Cooley was pronounced dead at Bartow Regional Medical Center.

Subsequent testing at the Polk County Sheriff's Processing Center revealed Wells' breath samples to contain alcohol levels of 0.092 and 0.105, surpassing the legal threshold of 0.08. According to WFLA, the incident also involved an 11-year-old girl in the car with Wells, who, fortunately, did not sustain injuries. Wells faces charges of DUI manslaughter and negligent child abuse and attempted to manipulate the breath alcohol test at the sheriff’s processing center, which still resulted in measures far above the legal limit.

Wells, who informed deputies that he consumed several beers before driving, was scheduled for a court appearance following the filing of a pretrial detention motion.