A 59-year-old New York man is facing multiple charges after Flagler County deputies say he crashed into another vehicle on Big Horn Drive in Palm Coast late Friday night, then sped off in a Chevrolet truck before deputies tracked him down weaving along Belle Terre Parkway. Dariuz Knapik, of Woodbridge, New York, later blew breath-test results of 0.183% and 0.190%, more than double the state's legal threshold for intoxication.
According to Tampa Free Press, the victim in the Big Horn Drive crash told deputies the driver who struck their vehicle appeared intoxicated or confused before speeding away. Flagler County deputies searched the surrounding area and spotted a truck matching that description on Belle Terre Parkway, a vital north-south corridor in Palm Coast, per Observer Local News. The truck was weaving in and out of its travel lane when deputies pulled it over.
Deputies Describe Signs of Intoxication
Once stopped, deputies reported that Knapik smelled strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and struggled to keep his balance. He also reportedly struggled with instructions during field sobriety exercises and failed to complete several of them, the Tampa Free Press account notes. Deputies opened a DUI investigation after connecting Knapik's truck to the earlier crash report.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Knapik was too drunk to drive, caused a crash, and fled the scene, adding that Knapik was fortunate that nobody was hurt or killed, per the same account. Deputies arrested Knapik on charges of DUI and DUI causing property damage before taking him to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility in Bunnell. The facility is a 400-bed county jail, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
Breath Results Trigger Florida's High-BAC Penalties
Knapik agreed to take two breath tests at the detention facility; they recorded 0.183% and 0.190%, more than twice Florida's legal limit of 0.08%, the article notes. Under Florida Statute § 316.193, a first-offense DUI conviction with a breath-alcohol concentration of 0.15% or higher triggers enhanced penalties, including fines doubling to between $1,000 and $2,000, a possible jail sentence extension from six to nine months, and a mandatory ignition interlock device, according to Lafrance Golondrino Law.
Separately, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage to an attended vehicle is classified under Florida Statute § 316.061 as a second-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to 60 days in county jail and a fine of up to $500, per Mayberry Law Firm. An arrest on a Florida DUI charge can start a separate administrative license suspension proceeding through the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; drivers have just 10 calendar days from the arrest date to request a formal review hearing, according to Mitchell A. Stone, P.A. Knapik was released after posting a $2,000 bond.
Part of a Pattern in Flagler County
Knapik's arrest fits a broader pattern of high-BAC hit-and-run cases that Flagler County deputies have handled this year. In July, deputies arrested a 46-year-old Palm Coast driver for DUI and hit-and-run after he drove the wrong way on Palm Coast Parkway with a recorded blood-alcohol concentration of 0.220% following an earlier crash, as reported by WKMG. That same month Sheriff Staly publicly warned that impaired wrong-way driving risks fatal collisions.
In June, deputies arrested a 23-year-old driver in Palm Coast after she struck a fence and mailbox and nearly hit another vehicle head-on, with breath-alcohol levels nearly three times the legal limit, according to FOX 35 Orlando; she posted a $4,450 bond. In a separate case, deputies arrested two Palm Coast residents who fled a hit-and-run crash on August 28 that injured another driver and hid their damaged pickup truck in a residential garage less than a mile away before investigators tracked them down, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office said.
Knapik's case adds to a string of DUI enforcement actions Hoodline has covered in Palm Coast this fall.
