As the Charlotte County community mourns fallen Deputy Christopher Taylor, new details about the accused drunk driver charged with hitting and killing him have come to light.
Fox 4 Investigates obtained the dash cam videos of Cassandra Smith’s DUI arrest in Palm Beach County in April of 2021.
A little after 11:00 p.m. on the night of April 5, a Palm Beach County Deputy pulls behind a Lexus SUV on S.R. 80.
911 callers had reported the driver of the SUV was swerving on the road and driving erratically.
The dash cam video shows the SUV driving in multiple lanes.
The driver, later identified as Smith, then slams on her brakes, setting off a chain reaction causing the Deputy to slam on his brakes and swerve to avoid hitting Smith or other drivers.
Smith pulls over and is ordered to get out of the car.
A DUI investigator then pulls up to conduct a field sobriety test.
“A White Claw and some prosecco,” Smith told the deputy.
When the deputy asked how many glasses of prosecco Smith consumed, she responds, while giggling, she had “a decent amount.”
Despite admitting to drinking, Smith insists she’s not inebriated and volunteers to perform the field sobriety tests.
“You’re gonna think I’m drunk,” Smith told investigators while attempting to walk in a straight line.
Just seconds later, Smith nearly falls over.
Later, in the alphabet test, Smith can barely stand and seemingly forgets the alphabet halfway through.
Smith plead guilty and was sentenced to 12 months of probation.
She had to have a breathalyzer to start her car for six months.
Her probation ended in August, just three months before the deadly crash on I-75 in Charlotte County.
