The Brightline passenger train suffered significant damage in the Dec. 28 collision with a Delray Beach aerial ladder fire truck that was crossing the tracks downtown despite lowered crossing arms. At top is the escape hatch the train's engineer used to exit the train following the crash. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Fire truck driver was subject of previous off-duty DUI inquiry
Ten fire rescue employees lack valid driver’s licenses
By John Pacenti
The suspended Delray Beach firefighter who was at the wheel of the aerial ladder truck when it was struck by a Brightline train had been investigated for DUI 11⁄2 years earlier when he ran his Jeep over a median and into a tree while off duty.
But a field sobriety test wasn’t conducted related to the Jeep accident, a breath test was determined to be impractical, a blood sample was never taken “due to lack of probable cause,” and no DUI charge was filed, according to a police report of the 2023 incident released Jan. 23 that referenced the driving under the influence investigation.
Information from that crash, now part of a separate police investigation, is getting new attention because of the Dec. 28 Brightline incident. Video of the train crash shows the enormous fire truck — operated by firefighter David Wyatt — maneuvering around a lowered railroad crossing gate before impact.
The collision took place on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks on Southeast First Street a block south of Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach.
Wyatt, Capt. Brian Fiorey and firefighter Joseph Fiumara III were taken to the Delray Medical Center as trauma alerts and have since been released. Palm Beach County says nine Brightline passengers were transported to the hospital.
Related: Editor's Note: Railroad crossing gates: Let’s cover all the lanes
Delray Beach firefighter David Wyatt was investigated for DUI in June 2023 after he ran his Jeep over a median and into a tree, according to a police report. His license was suspended in October 2023, but was later reinstated. Screenshot from police body cam video
The 2023 crash
Wyatt’s license was suspended in October 2023 when he failed to take a required class after being cited in June of that year for careless driving when he crashed into a tree on Atlantic Avenue near Swinton Avenue, court records show. The license remained suspended for two months and it is unknown if he continued to operate city-owned vehicles during that time.
The city on Jan. 23 released the police report and the body camera footage of the scene of the June 9, 2023, crash where Wyatt’s 2015 Jeep hit a tree around 10:22 p.m.
“Given the significant public interest in this matter, I believe releasing the body-worn camera footage from the 2023 citation is the right step toward providing a full and accurate account of the events,” said Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore. The Police Department is now conducting its own investigation about how that case was handled.
The city blurred out the images of Wyatt on the body camera video — 11 clips in all. The audio of the video is sporadic as officers on the scene choose not to activate sound.
Wyatt hit the tree in the median with enough force to deploy all his airbags, according to the police report written by Officer Nicholas Windsor. Wyatt was transported to Bethesda Hospital.
Windsor spoke to Wyatt in the emergency room triage area, noting his eyes were red but pupils were normal size and his speech wasn’t slurred. He informed Wyatt he was conducting a DUI investigation and read him his Miranda rights, the police report states.
Wyatt declined to answer any questions.
“I did not observe Wyatt standing under his own power. Wyatt was either sitting on the ground, lying on a stretcher or sitting in a wheelchair,” Windsor wrote.
Field sobriety tests were not conducted at the scene of the crash and Windsor said a breath test was impractical because Wyatt was being treated for over an hour at the hospital.
“I did not request Wyatt provide a blood sample due to the lack of probable cause,” the officer wrote.
Wyatt wasn’t charged with DUI.
A witness, who knew Wyatt, said he was traveling behind his friend’s Jeep, on Swinton. Wyatt made a right turn onto Atlantic, jumped the median and hit the tree.
“The witness did not provide any further information such as where Wyatt and he were traveling to or from and what Wyatt was doing prior to the crash,” Windsor wrote.
Multiple investigations
City Attorney Lynn Gelin at a Jan. 7 City Commission meeting said it was discovered that 10 current fire rescue employees did not have valid driving licenses. Officials have not said how many, if any, of those employees have been driving city vehicles without a valid license.
Years earlier, in a 2009 review under areas to improve, Wyatt was told to make certain to have a valid driver’s license kept current at all times after he allowed his to lapse.
At the time of the Brightline crash, Wyatt and all those aboard the fire truck had valid licenses.
Mayor Tom Carney said he called for the release of the body camera video. “Better to release it with transparency than to have everybody speculate about everything,” he said.
He didn’t want to comment on the report or the body camera video because he said the June 2023 crash is yet another subject of an internal investigation.
Vice Mayor Juli Casale commended the release of the report and video.
“Our city’s capability, impartiality and integrity are in question. Residents deserve answers,” she said.
Yet, she questioned the police narrative in the short-circuited DUI investigation, saying, “It leaves more questions than answers.”
As for the Brightline crash, the city earlier asked the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to take over the lead investigation. Police Chief Russ Mager cited the “complexity of the crash, the multiple agencies involved, and the need for transparency.”
Besides the PBSO investigation, there are three internal Delray Beach investigations and an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Two of the internal investigations — regarding the train crash and some staff not having valid driver’s licenses — will be handled by the firm Johnson Jackson, the city announced on Jan. 23.
Measures taken
Fire Chief Ronald Martin on Jan. 3 placed two of the three staff members on the fire truck — Wyatt and Fiorey — on paid administrative leave, along with Assistant Chief Kevin Green and Division Chief Todd Lynch, pending an internal investigation to determine if policies were followed leading up to the crash.
In other developments:
• The city released dispatch audio and the 911 recordings, showing Battalion 111 responding to a call reporting smoke on the second story of the four-story condo complex at 365 SE Sixth Ave. However, another crew on the scene reported that all that was needed was ventilation because of burnt food. The dispatcher then informed other crews that Battalion 111 had been struck by a train.
• Gelin told elected officials at the Jan. 21 commission meeting not to publicly discuss the crash because of potential litigation and the pending investigations.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation notified Delray Beach it will review its quiet zone designation for train horns when approaching public crossings, Moore said in his Jan. 17 memo to commissioners.
• Knauf Group submitted a $70,000 bill for towing the damaged fire truck — left in three pieces after the crash, according to an email from Gelin to Moore. The company also cleaned up the downtown crash site.
• Chief Martin put all external programming and community engagement initiatives for the fire department on hiatus. The chief also announced cutbacks to overtime for special events and administrative staff.
Tensions with union
At the Jan. 7 commission meeting, Carney and fellow commissioners threw their support behind Martin after the firefighters union on Facebook attacked him over the suspensions.
Delray Beach Fire Fighters IAFF Local 1842 said that Martin failed to follow departmental policies — spelled out for employee discipline — by publicly sharing the names of those suspended.
“This public dissemination of information causes significant harm to the employees involved, damages their reputations, and undermines trust in the City’s internal processes,” the union posted on its Facebook page.
Martin issued a response, saying that he wanted to ensure that the investigations would be conducted with fairness toward the employees involved.
Casale told The Coastal Star, “Sadly we are seeing the effects of an all-powerful union that has built a lack of accountability into the fire union contract.”
Right now much of the focus is on Wyatt.
The adjudication for the 2023 ticket was withheld, and a two-month-old D-6 license suspension was lifted in December of that year after the court received verification that Wyatt had completed the required course. A D-6 is an indefinite suspension until certain conditions are met.
By having adjudication withheld, Wyatt did not get any points against his license that would lead to higher insurance rates. He paid $207 in fines and court costs.
Wyatt has also been cited for minor vehicular violations — such as speeding and having an expired tag — five times in Palm Beach County since 2004, records show.
Comments