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Apologetic Driver Given 5 Years For Crash That Injured 4

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By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

DADE CITY - For all his apparent sincerity in apologizing, Wayne Roberts still uses the word "accident" when describing the horrific crash he caused on Aug. 31.

But the Zephyrhills man chose to get behind the wheel of his Acura with a blood-alcohol level of 0.18, and the consequences were nearly deadly for four San Antonio teenagers on their way home from Dairy Queen.

For that choice, Roberts will spend the next five years in prison.

The 42-year-old former medical device salesman pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony counts of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury and three related misdemeanors. Roberts will serve eight years of probation following his release.

"I want to say I'm sorry to the families," Roberts said from his place in the jury box. "I know you probably hate me. It was an accident. I didn't plan on it. I went out on a date and had some drinks and fell asleep. It was horrible."

The lives of Kelley O'Brien, Bethany Clayton and two other teenagers, Joshua Green and Ben Beecher, have been irreparably harmed. O'Brien was driving her friends north on U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills as Roberts barreled the opposite way on the wrong side of the road.

The head-on collision put O'Brien, now 19, in St. Joseph's Hospital for 13 days and has cost her parents more than $125,000 in medical bills. Clayton, who was sitting in the backseat behind her lifelong friend, broke her right leg and underwent 12 hours of surgery to piece it together. A titanium rod remains in her leg.

Green, 19, and Beecher, 16, were lucky. They walked away with fractured wrists and were released from the hospital shortly after the crash.

Outside the courtroom Tuesday, O'Brien scoffed at the notion the crash was an "accident." "You accidentally drink alcohol and get in a car?" she asked.

The impact broke every bone in O'Brien's face, which surgeons rebuilt. She has endured a number of other serious surgeries, including one to correct a pseudo-aneurysm that developed after the crash, and will require more to correct her damaged right eye. Angiograms will be done to check on the aneurysm.

O'Brien had graduated from Pasco High with honors only months before the crash and started classes at the University of South Florida. She hasn't returned to school but hopes to this fall. Her mother, Terri O'Brien, said her daughter's plans to pursue careers in acting and modeling might never materialize because of the extent of the injuries.

Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa made sure Roberts won't soon forget about the lives he affected. He ordered Roberts to carry a photo of Kelley O'Brien with him at all times. The picture shows O'Brien in a hospital bed with tubes running out of her face.

After Roberts leaves prison, he is to post pictures of the teenagers wherever he lives.

"I want these pictures to be posted in the room you live in from the day you start your probation," Siracusa said. "And they should be in a prominent position such that when a probation officer walks in he can see them with no problem and so when you sleep and wake up you can be reminded what you did."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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