The 12th Circuit State Attorney’s office dropped the case against a Bradenton man arrested for driving under the influence after a crash with a bicyclist.
The bicyclist, Daniel Lord, 67, of Cortez, died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Assistant State Attorney William Moran filed a memorandum Sept. 12 that stated, “According to a witness the bicycle ‘came out of nowhere’ and cut across the highway and into the path of the defendant’s vehicle.”
The 30-year-old motorist, Eric Brenner, was driving a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee when the crash occurred at about 10:40 p.m. July 10 on Cortez Road West near 102nd Street.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper responded and Brenner refused the officer’s requests to perform roadside sobriety and Breathalyzer tests.
The FHP reported “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage” on the defendant, but Moran reported a videotape of the incident showed Brenner was not impaired.
According to the memo, the witness hugged Brenner and did not smell alcohol.
The memo concluded a charge would not be filed because of a lack of evidence showing Brenner was under the influence “to the point his normal faculties were impaired at the time of the accident.”