Florida Highway Patrol arrested a man Wednesday accused of driving under the influence and causing an accident that left one victim with brain damage.
Joseph Daniel Nipper, 32, was charged with DUI with damage to property and another person and DUI with serious bodily injury to another person.
On Wednesday at around 3:40 p.m., a three-vehicle crash occurred on Northwest 39th Avenue, according to the report.
Around 4:00 p.m., FHP officers arrived on the scene to find Nipper still in the driver's seat of his crashed vehicle, according to the report.
The second driver, a 75-year-old woman, was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital where she was admitted to the intensive care unit with a brain bleed, according to the report.
The victim is still in serious condition, according to FHP Public Affairs Officer Patrick Riordan. Riordan also said the third driver had no injuries.
When officers did an inventory of Nipper’s vehicle, they found a cooler that had one opened and three unopened cans of Bud Light beer, according to the report.
One FHP officer reported that Nipper had a strong odor of alcohol coming from him and his breath, according to the report. He was reportedly unsteady, lethargic and had thick, slurred speech.
Nipper refused to perform a standardized field sobriety exercise and then was arrested under suspicion of DUI at 4:15 p.m., according to the report. While being transported to Alachua County Jail, he said he wanted an independent blood test. Nipper refused a breath sample and the blood sample while he was in custody.
Needing medical clearance to be taken by the jail, officers took Nipper to North Florida Regional Medical Center Millhopper Freestanding ER where he was discharged with instructions of alcohol intoxication, according to the report. He was then taken back to the jail.
Nipper remained in the Alachua County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of a $45,000 bail. He posted bond on Thursday.
Follow Devoun Cetoute on Twitter @devoun_cetoute and contact him at dcetoute@alligator.org.
