Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols on Wednesday sentenced Isaiah Macario Warren, 26, to four and a half years in prison for the drunk driving crash in Flagler Beach last April that severely injured Brian Tiller, a 45-year-old resident of the city.
Warren faced two third-degree felonies–for drunk driving causing serious bodily injury and for tampering with evidence, resulting from his attempt to hide the fact that he’d been drinking in the car, and three misdemeanors, including pot possession. Last month he agreed to an open plea, with two of the misdemeanors dropped, leaving it to Nichols to sentence him.
Nichols adjudicated him guilty (which means that he will be a felon for life), sentencing him to 54 months in prison followed by a year on probation and 100 hours of community service, 50 of which must be logged at a trauma center. His driver’s license will be suspended for a year. When it is restored, he will have an ignition interlock device installed in his car, preventing him from driving if he has had alcohol.
According to his sentencing scoresheet, which included points for a prior conviction for grand theft, he faced a maximum of 11 years in prison, with the lowest possible permissible sentence at 54 months–the sentence Nichols imposed.
Warren was also ordered to pay $45,859 in restitution for Tiller’s medical bills, at the rate of $100 per month, which would take 38 years to pay off. He had been free on $37,000 bond. He was taken into custody immediately after the sentencing.
The crash took place in mid-evening last April 2 when Warren–who had a Tennessee driver’s license at the time–blew a stop sign and crashed into Tiller, who was on a motorcycle, at the intersection of South 3rd Street and South Daytona Avenue. Tiller had the right of way. Warren was at the wheel of a Ford. He’d been traveling west on South 3rd. Tiller was traveling south. The collision catapulted Tiller onto the parking lot of the Post Office. His lower left leg was severed between the knee and ankle. A man had witnessed the crash and described it to Florida Highway Patrol troopers, who investigated.
The witness also told troopers that Warren after the crash ran to a private driveway and threw out two Twisted Tea cans in hopes of hiding them from law enforcement. It did not work, and resulted in his second felony count. A third can was found in his car. He had dilated pupils and glassy eyes at the scene, claiming he’d taken just a sip of the Twisted Tea and had last smoked pot that morning. He did not perform well during the field sobriety exam, and later tested at 0.114 and 0.107 blood-alcohol volume through a pair of breathalyzer tests. The legal limit is 0.08. He was arrested at the scene and taken to the Flagler County jail. Tiller was airlifted to Halifax hospital in Daytona Beach.
Warren had just 17 days’ credit for time served at the jail, but he will be eligible for gain time, or early release for good behavior, after serving 85 percent of his sentence, potentially reducing his sentence to 46 months, so he could be out of prison by the end of 2028 or early 2029.
The crash was one of 83 that involved motorcycles on Flagler County roads last year, three of them resulting in fatalities. A motorcyclist was killed on State Road A1A in Flagler Beach last week.
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