A 19-year-old Orlando man is facing multiple charges, including DUI and driving on the wrong side of a divided highway, after Florida Highway Patrol troopers say he drove south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 near the State Road 26 interchange in Alachua County early Monday morning. Gabriel Alexander Markaj was behind the wheel of a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta when it collided with a 2018 Dodge Ram just before 2:30 a.m., a crash that left no injuries but shut down part of an off-ramp used to reach the University of Florida campus.
Troopers received reports of a wrong-way driver on northbound I-75 and issued a BOLO for the Jetta before locating it near State Road 26, according to WKMG. The driver of the pickup swerved to avoid the oncoming Jetta but couldn't fully escape the impact, and dashcam footage from the truck captured Markaj's car weaving across multiple lanes while heading south against traffic, per Ocala-News.com.
The Jetta's front right side struck the Dodge Ram's right rear, sending the pickup spinning across the State Road 26 off-ramp until it came to rest blocking part of the ramp, the station's report notes. State Road 26, known locally as Newberry Road, serves as one of the primary routes connecting I-75 to the university campus, according to Mainstreet Daily News.
Breath Tests Nearly Double the Legal Limit
Markaj provided two breath samples that registered alcohol concentrations of .190 and .176, according to the same account. Both readings are well above Florida's standard .08 limit for adult drivers and are nearly ten times the .02 zero-tolerance threshold Florida sets for drivers under 21, a threshold established under Florida Statute 322.2616, which mandates an immediate six-month administrative license suspension for underage drivers who test at or above that level.
Because his breath alcohol level exceeded .150, Markaj was charged with DUI under the enhanced provisions of Florida Statute 316.193(4), which raises the maximum fine to $2,000 and maximum jail exposure to nine months for a first conviction — well beyond the $1,000 fine and six-month jail cap that apply to standard first-offense DUI cases, per the Sammis Law Firm's explanation of the statute. He also faces a charge of driving on the wrong side of a divided highway under Florida Statute 316.090(1) and a DUI charge tied to property damage under Florida Statute 316.193(3)(c)1, a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine whenever impaired driving damages another vehicle without causing serious bodily injury, according to the Florida Senate's statutory language.
Altered ID Adds a Separate Misdemeanor Charge
Markaj was additionally charged with unauthorized possession of an altered driver's license or ID card under Florida Statute 322.212(5)(b). That offense is classified as a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to Terrezza Law's breakdown of the statute — a lesser charge than the third-degree felony reserved for possessing a completely forged or fictitious government ID.
Markaj now faces the administrative side of Florida's DUI process as well. Drivers arrested for DUI in Florida face an automatic license suspension from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and must request a formal review hearing or a hardship license within 10 days of arrest, according to Turner O'Connor Kozlowski, P.L., or risk losing driving privileges entirely without recourse. As with other defendants booked into the Alachua County Jail, he would be entitled to a First Appearance hearing within 24 hours to review probable cause and set bond conditions, per the City of Alachua's outline of local court procedure.
A Statewide Pattern of Deadly Wrong-Way Crashes
The crash adds to a string of wrong-way collisions that have struck Florida interstates in recent weeks, including a fatal head-on crash on SR 33 that killed a 22-year-old Groveland man and a fiery wrong-way crash on SR 414 in Apopka that injured three people. Statewide, wrong-way freeway crashes carry a 25% fatality rate — roughly three times the rate of typical arterial crashes — with alcohol impairment involved in about 60% of cases, according to data cited by the National Operations Center of Excellence.
Florida's Department of Transportation has responded by deploying a statewide Wrong-Way Driving Alert System that uses radar sensors and flashing LED warning signs at high-risk off-ramps to detect drivers entering highways in the wrong direction. The agency says the system, which notifies regional transportation centers and triggers electronic highway warnings, prevents more than 95% of detected wrong-way entries before a collision can occur.
Monday's crash near State Road 26 did not result in injuries, largely because the pickup driver was able to swerve and the Jetta's momentum carried it onto the off-ramp rather than deeper into oncoming traffic. Markaj's case now moves through the Alachua County court system as he faces the combined weight of enhanced DUI penalties, the wrong-side-of-the-highway charge, and the altered ID allegation.
