On November 21, 2011, Matthew David Houmes, of the 5900 block of Madrano Drive in Sarasota, was responsible for a three-vehicle wreck that caused serious injuries to himself and his two passengers.
The 25-year-old man was driving his Toyota Camry eastbound on Fruitville Road when he traveled into the path of a Sarasota County Area Transit bus and a Chevrolet pickup truck, after he turned left on Beneva Road.
The wreck caused serious injuries to the passengers in the Camry, as the bus hit the Camry on the front passenger side. When rescue workers arrived on scene, they had to cut off the vehicle’s roof to get one of the passengers out of the car. Both Camry passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries.
When police got to the scene, they found Houmes sitting in his car attempting to conceal drug paraphernalia and syringes. Witnesses told police that Houmes had a leather belt wrapped around his bicep after the crash, but had removed it before the police arrived. Police indicate that this is often a tourniquet people use during heroin injections. Additionally, Houmes admitted to paramedics that he had injected heroin that day.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab also found two prescription medications in his blood, as well as cocaine and heroin.
On Monday, April 9, 2012, Houmes was booked on eight felonies that include multiple charges of driving under the influence involving serious injuries and property damage, narcotics possession and more. Houmes has since bailed himself out of jail.
Our Sarasota accident attorneys at Mallard Perez would like to wish the Camry passengers a full and fast recovery.
