Oh to be One of the Good Old Boys

In the days since TBT brought its readers comprehensive coverage of the DUI investigation into Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse, readers have expressed an immense amount of justified outrage at the way the case was handled, which is to say, in a very Manatee County-like manner.

The term Good Old Boy network might not have been invented as a description of our county, but it is the one most frequently used by readers when expressing their frustration at the lack of accountability so often applied to those within our community’s power structure when they commit acts for which the rest of us would be far less likely to receive preferential treatment were we to do the same. It may also be used more frequently here than just about any other place–and with good reason.

Kruse was driving to his home in Greyhawk Landing a couple of weeks ago when he crashed head-on into a tree near the community’s gate. He was issued a citation for careless driving and the whole thing would have likely remained just one more unknown instance in which a local elected official was given a get out of jail free pass had it not been for a community Facebook group where other residents began posting inconsistencies in the official narrative.

Screenshots were shared elsewhere and soon we learned that, two weeks after the fact, the Manatee Sheriff’s Office was "investigating possible DUI charges." That seemed quite odd. After all, in a DUI case, how much investigating can be done weeks following the incident? When there’s suspicion of driving while impaired, a breathalyzer and field sobriety test are the primary means of evidence and their results are known immediately.

However, after MSO finally released 911 audio and bodycam footage from the responding officers, the truth of the matter was easily assembled. When Kruse crashed his Ford F-150 double cab into a tree, the tire tracks did not indicate he’d swerved, and the impact suggested he was driving well beyond the posted speed limit, having made little effort to stop. His voice was heavily slurred on the 911 audio, and, when the first officer responded, it was patently obvious that Kruse was, for lack of a better term, shitfaced drunk.

Throughout the course of the video, we learn that the officer, who was first to arrive (he was working a special detail in the community and had been approached by several residents who’d passed the crash site) was fully aware that Kruse was clearly inebriated and strongly suspected that both the commissioner and his wife, who arrived on the scene minutes after the crash and can be heard coaching Kruse to get out of the truck and into her vehicle on the 911 audio, were lying in their assertions as to what had happened.

We also learn that both Kruse and his wife acknowledge that the commissioner was behind the wheel of the truck when it crashed. Yet, the officer, an experienced lieutenant, never asks Kruse whether he’d had anything to drink, never asks him to submit to a breathalyzer or even a field sobriety test, and then makes the extraordinary decision to allow Kruse’s wife to drive the commissioner home before the deputy that was en route to work the crash arrived. In other words, he made no effort whatsoever to hold Kruse accountable for a blatant instance of driving while severely impaired.

In the video, we see the first officer tell the second officer on the scene that the reason he couldn’t pursue a DUI investigation was that there hadn’t been any witnesses to put Kruse behind the wheel. I spoke to multiple attorneys after the incident, all of whom agreed that the decision was extraordinarily uncommon. While single-car crash DUIs with no witnesses are very difficult to prosecute, someone in that situation is going to be given a breathalyzer, in which case they will have to decide whether or not to submit to it or face the penalty of losing their license for up to one year. When they fail the breathalyzer, they are going to be arrested on suspicion of DUI, and, if they do in fact beat the rap, it’s going to cost a small fortune in legal bills.

Florida law prohibits most statements regarding an automobile accident given to law enforcement by drivers and others involved from being used in a later civil or criminal trial. Florida's "Accident Report Privilege" exists to encourage witnesses to cooperate in the investigation without fear of incriminating themselves. If an officer suspects a DUI or other crime related to the crash, he must "switch hats" and inform the person that he is no longer conducting a crash investigation but a criminal one. he didn’t do that either. In other words, he didn’t even try to make a case and seems to have outright avoided it.

One can only guess as to why that may have been the case, although the officer was clearly aware of who Kruse was, having informed the second deputy on the scene upon his arrival. He also told Kruse’s wife when she returned from taking her husband home that he knew who they were and did not want to be in a situation where their "hands were tied" and "phone calls have to be made," especially with a public official. Click here to watch that portion of the video.

Some of the attorneys I spoke with knew the lieutenant involved and agreed that he was a talented law enforcement officer who usually does much better work, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? The Manatee Sheriff’s Office conducted its monthly DUI Saturation Patrol just nine days after Kruse’s crash, announcing that it had arrested three impaired drivers and tested three more to no avail. In other words, even three people who weren't inebriated were handled with more zest than someone who very clearly was–and crashed head-on into a tree to boot. Deputies made two additional arrests, wrote seven traffic-related court summons, and issued a whopping 72 citations, all of whom presumably were not members of the county’s protected class.

This sort of blatant inconsistency undermines the good work that law enforcement does by giving citizens plenty of reasons not to respect the authority that they are entrusted with by us, the average taxpayer, especially when they condescendingly lecture us on the dangers of small infractions like going a little bit over the speed limit on an empty road as they eagerly stroke a ticket.

When asked if the Manatee Sheriff’s Office would be conducting an internal investigation into the failures in the way this case was handled TBT got a hard no. And why should they? Sheriff Rick Wells is one of the most powerful political players in the county and routinely raises more than any other local candidate–even when he doesn’t have an opponent. He’s unlikely to lose the support of the Republican power machine over something like this. Quite the opposite, many probably appreciate the idea that deputies so loathe the notion of arresting a local politician or even getting into a situation where phone calls have to be made.

As for Kruse’s political future, who knows what effect, if any, this will have. After all, it’s not only Florida but Manatee County. He's brought a more than a little embarrassment to the board, his party, and, most of all, his family, in the short time he’s been on the board. That’s a shame because aside from those major missteps, he's proven himself an otherwise sharp guy who has a lot to offer in some areas of local governance, much of which was on display when he was my podcast guest this week. We recorded the interview on Wednesday afternoon, the day before the evidence was released, and we only discussed the matter briefly at the top of the interview, but the policy discussion was insightful and spoke to his potential (click here to listen).

But as much potential as he might have on the policy side, his judgment is, to be quite generous, suspect. As an Irishman who has been known to favor tilting my own chin toward the heavens, I won’t grandstand about drinking or even suggest that I’ve never in my life taken the wheel of a car when I shouldn’t have. It’s my experience that few people who don’t abstain completely can make that claim. But I also recognize that as a public figure who gives their own opinion so often and on a sizable platform, I’ve got a lot to lose in terms of credibility with even small lapses in judgment, and have some not-insignificant Uber expenses that speak to the matter. As an elected official, Kruse has an even higher bar and much more to lose than a journalist, even if the odds might be offset by what we might call Good Ol’ Boy armor.

Local politicians and others close to Kruse have often described him as a heavy drinker even before this incident, and the incident itself elicited many off-the-record, "I knew it was just a matter of time," comments this week. He’s a bright enough guy to know better, which suggests that perhaps he needs some help and, if that’s the case, I sincerely hope he gets it. As for the rest of us, the MSO’s next Saturation patrol will be held on Friday, May 20. Be careful, especially if you’re not an elected official.

Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of ourweekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County governmentsince 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Clickherefor his bio. His 2016 short story collection, Casting Shadows, was recently reissued and is availablehere.