PANAMA CITY — Family members of a teenager who was sentenced to a decade in prison for a drunken Spring Break traffic fatality have complained to his judge that several parties — including the police — in part were responsible for the tragic wreck.
However, officials said police acted within their power when they allowed 19-year-old Bruce Chandler George to leave the scene of a crash moments before the deadly collision.
The family of George, from Nolensville, Tenn., wrote Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet Monday to ask he reconsider the more than 10-year prison sentence handed down to the teenager. Family members requested George be sentenced as a youthful offender for the March crash which killed 22-year-old Brandon Beverly, of Knoxville, Tenn. In their letter, grandparents of George asked Overstreet to explain his reasoning for not doing so; and they said local law enforcement, vendors and the local government policies contributed to setting the scene for disaster.
“Several individuals made errors in judgment the day this tragedy occurred,” Bruce and Regina Carnahan, grandparents of George, wrote. “… We feel [George] is paying for those mistakes as well as his own.”
About 30 minutes before the March 9 crash, George backed into a car in a Panama City Beach McDonald’s parking lot. Police interviewed George and allowed the then 18-year-old to leave afterward, a decision Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman said that commonly is left to individual officers’ discretion.
“That is total officer discretion,” Whitman said. “The officer has to believe he has been under the influence or smell the alcohol on him before we can even do a field sobriety test. If none of those flags come up, we can’t just take them to jail.”
Authorities then arrived at Thomas Drive near the Signal Hill Golf Course shortly after 9:15 p.m. after a 2001 Ford Taurus sedan careened into a 2013 Panther scoot car. George, driving the Taurus, told authorities after the fatal crash he had fallen asleep at the wheel after drinking alcohol since about 1:30 p.m. that day.
George veered into the oncoming traffic before crashing into the scoot car. Beverly was ejected in the crash and later died from his injuries.
Following a serious traffic crash, police have the authority to perform alcohol tests. George’s blood alcohol content was 0.159, nearly twice the legal benchmark at which a driver is presumed impaired, which is 0.08.
George’s family also said the business who sold him beer, the business who rented Beverly the scoot car and the city of Panama City Beach in general, “who are too lenient in general during Spring Break,” played a role in what culminated as the loss of two youths.
“There seems to be events totally unrelated to this case that have influenced the prosecutor and the courts,” Bruce and Regina Carnahan wrote. “We just want [George] to be treated fairly.”
In their letter, George’s family mentions the Beverly family initially looked at pursuing retribution against the city and the officer who allowed George to continue driving. No lawsuits have been filed on the part of the Beverlys, one of whom is in law enforcement in Tennessee, according to Bay County court documents.
Attempts to contact the Beverly family were unsuccessful.
The Carnahans have also not filed a lawsuit, court documents indicated.
Since George pleaded no contest to DUI manslaughter, he cannot appeal his adjudication of guilt. His family can appeal the length of his sentence, though.
“Anytime someone losses their life, it’s a tragic situation — especially someone that young,” Whitman said.