Anne Cross, 62, faces charges including DUI, DUI causing property damage, and refusing to submit to testing after Brevard County deputies alleged she struck and killed a horse on Lake Washington Road and drove home. Deputies later found her beside a damaged SUV, with blood on her face.
The crash prompted separate investigations by the Florida Highway Patrol and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, according to WFLA. Deputies who responded to Lake Washington Road on a Wednesday evening found the horse dead; the Highway Patrol investigated the crash while the sheriff's office investigated the allegations involving Cross, who had left the scene.
The sheriff's office traced the damaged SUV to Cross's address, where deputies found her in a garage, according to WESH. The station reported that she had cuts to her forehead and nose and appeared to have slurred speech and glassy eyes.
What Cross Told Deputies
Cross told deputies that something had landed on her vehicle and that she thought she might have hit a deer before driving home, the station reported. Deputies said she refused field sobriety testing before her arrest and later declined to provide a breath sample.
The reported testing refusals and deputies' observations were part of the account underlying the charges. WESH reported that Cross was given an $11,000 bond, which she has since posted to secure her release from the Brevard County jail.
What Florida Law Says About DUI and Fleeing a Crash
Florida law defines driving under the influence as being affected by alcohol or having a blood- or breath-alcohol level of at least 0.08, according to Florida Statute 316.193. Under that same statute, causing damage to another person's property while violating the DUI law is classified as a first-degree misdemeanor.
Separately, Florida law requires drivers involved in a crash that causes only property damage to immediately stop at the scene and remain there while fulfilling certain legal obligations, under Florida Statute 316.061. A violation of that requirement is classified as a second-degree misdemeanor.
Cases involving impaired drivers who leave the scene of a crash have drawn scrutiny elsewhere in Florida. In one separate case reported by wgal.com, an impaired driver allegedly killed two people after an officer had let the driver go minutes earlier, according to a police chief cited in that report.
Another Fatal Horse Collision in Florida
Florida has seen other fatal vehicle collisions involving horses, though the circumstances have differed. The Associated Press, republished by WKRG, reported that on July 8, 2018, in Southwest Ranches, a driver reaching for a cellphone struck and killed two horses and seriously injured a girl and a woman. That report described cellphone distraction and injured riders, rather than alleged DUI or leaving the scene; it did not provide a case outcome.
