Bodycam Footage and 911 Audio Released in Kruse Investigation

MANATEE COUNTY – On Thursday morning, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office released unredacted reports, 911 audio, and bodycam footage relating to a single-vehicle accident involving Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse. The accident occurred on April 20 at approximately 7:30 pm, but previously released information was limited to an MCSO incident investigation report that was heavily redacted.

In recent days, Kruse has made statements to local media outlets that the open investigation was "politically motivated" and a "witch hunt," stating that the incident was a minor accident and that he received only a careless driving citation. Kruse has not been arrested in connection with the crash and denies he was drinking at the time of the incident.

The evening of the accident, Kruse was presumably en route to his home in the Grayhawk Landing subdivision. While traveling on Grayhawk Boulevard, Kruse crashed his Ford F-150 pickup truck into a tree, on the opposite side of the road, well onto the grass median.

The F150 pickup truck, having detected a collision and the deployment of the driver-side airbag, automatically placed an emergency call to the 9-1-1 Emergency Call Center. SYNC Emergency Assist is an emergency software installed in certain Ford vehicles, similar to OnStar. SYNC Assist works by connecting through the Bluetooth of the driver’s cellular phone, to emergency dispatch operators.

The 9-1-1 call records exist in two parts, the first being the initial call placed by the vehicle’s software connecting to the Emergency Call Center. The second portion of the call is recorded by the MSO dispatch after ECC transfers the call to the Sheriff’s dispatch. Despite portions of the recording belonging to two different agencies, audio appeared to show the call was consistent without interruption during the transfer.

In the first portion of the call (click here to listen), the vehicle’s software can be heard connecting to ECC, and, shortly thereafter, an ECC operator is heard on the line seeking to confirm whether there was an accident. After a brief delay, a male’s voice can be heard responding, "Everything’s okay, yeah, everything’s okay." The driver sounds to be slurring his words as he explains to the operator that he crashed while swerving to avoid another vehicle.

When the operator attempts to confirm the location of the accident, the line goes quiet. The operator can be heard saying "hello, hello" multiple times, but is only answered by the faint sound of a clicking turn signal. The call then transfers to an MSO operator (click here to listen) who also can be heard attempting to get a response from anyone in the vehicle.

After a short time without a response, there is the sound of someone moaning before a woman’s voice can then be heard on the recording, "Hey, hey, you’re okay," the female voice says. "I need you to get into my car, I need you to get into my car right now," the female voice is heard saying before being interrupted by the dispatch operator. At one point in the 9-1-1 recording, the woman can be heard instructing someone to "get in the back."

The woman, who eventually identifies herself as Jessica Kruse, Commissioner Kruse’s wife, proceeds to insist the MSO dispatch operator that "We’re good," and that it was only a "little fender bender." Jessica Kruse tells the operator that they are in not in need of assistance, and that the operator does not need to dispatch a deputy–something the operator informed Mrs. Kruse would need to be done.

Beyond the 9-1-1 calls, bodycam footage from the initial responding officer, Lieutenant Pruitt, recorded Pruitt speaking with Commissioner Kruse from the backseat of his wife’s vehicle. Pruitt who was on the end of his patrol assignments, states that he was made aware of the accident by residents who had witnessed the disabled pickup truck.

The footage from Pruitt’s bodycam appeared to show a visibly intoxicated Kruse. At multiple points, Pruitt can be heard acknowledging that that is his impression–that Kruse is intoxicated. Lieutenant Pruitt later says as much to the second responding officer, as well as to Mrs. Kruse near the end of the recording created from his bodycam.

Mrs. Kruse initially told Pruittthat she was right behind her husband's vehicle but couldn't see anything that happened, but, near the end of the bodycam video, tells him that she was several minutes behind her husband's vehicle before happening upon the crash scene. According to the updated investigation report (click here to view), Kruse told his auto insurance carrier that the accident happened when he swerved to avoid an animal.

Pruitt had requested that dispatch send a patrol deputy to work the accident scene, and Deputy Leonel Garcia soon arrived. While bringing Deputy Garcia up to speed upon his arrival, Lieutenant Pruitt can be heard telling Garcia that Mrs. Kruse is "lying" while also informing the deputy that Kruse, who had already left the scene prior to Garcia's arrival, is a county commissioner.

Despite both Mr. and Mrs. Kruse confirming to Lieutenant Pruitt that Mr. Kruse had been operating the vehicle at the time of the accident, Pruitt tells Deputy Garcia that he was unable to place Mr. Kruse in possession of the vehicle at the time of the accident and therefore did not proceed with a DUI investigation before allowing Kruse to leave the scene, despite judging him to have been clearly impaired. Garcia ultimately issued Kruse a citation for careless driving.

In the since unredacted portion of the Sheriff’s Incident Investigation report, Pruitt wrote:

"On the day of the original event, upon making contact with George Kruse, I observed him to have glassy watery eyes, slurred speech, droopy eyelids, clammy skin, thick tongued, and all around appeared confused. My training and experience led me to a conclusion that George Kruse was under the influence of an unknown substance. At no time could I smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath or his person. I initially observed Mr. Kruse in a seated position. It was not until later that I observed him standing. During that observation, I did not see him sway, appear uneasy on his feet, or use any object to assist him to stand. A field sobriety test nor a breath test was administered as there was no independent witness to the crash on scene that could place Mr. Kruse in the vehicle under active physical control of the vehicle. It was not learned until a few days later of the entire 911 call that clearly places Mr. Kruse inside the vehicle and the sole occupant. The capias request was completed with this new evidence in mind."

TBT reached out to State Attorney Ed Brodsky, whose office is now in charge of the case, to see whether he planned to pursue charges.

"This case continues to be an active investigation by our office," said Brodsky, "and I must respectfully decline to comment at this time."

A spokesman for the MSO issued the following statement from Sherrif Rick Wells:

"Review of this traffic crash revealed additional evidence that was not available on the evening of April 20. It was important for us to examine this additional evidence and determine who was in physical control of the vehicle when the crash occurred, and to what extent the driver was impaired."

It had previously been reported in other outlets that an internal affairs investigation had been launched, presumably regarding the way the incident had been handled. However, MSO Public Information Officer Randy Warren responded to an inquiry on the status of that investigation by telling TBT,"We are not conducting an internal investigation connected to this case."

Kruse was in a county commission meeting Thursday and not immediately available for comment. After the meeting, TBT was able to catch up with Kruse who offered the following.

"I’ve been in a land-use meeting all day while this came out," said Kruse. "I am aware of what came out, but I have not had an opportunity to review what’s come out. Even if I had reviewed it, while this is still being investigated and/or reviewed by the state attorney’s office, I am not commenting on any findings that they have or any decisions that they make."