Man Charged with DUI After Crashing into Parked Police Cruiser

A 44-year-old Pasco County man found himself in quite the pickle when he drove his SUV into a parked police cruiser earlier this month.  Although the police cruiser, which was carrying both an officer and an arrested suspect, was parked away from the road with its emergency lights activated, the suspect struck the side of the vehicle, injuring two police officers and one civilian.

According to the Tarpon Springs Police Department Press Release, the incident occurred at approximately 9:33 on a Wednesday night.  Officer Steve Gassen had just completed an arrest of suspect Amy Beth Jakaitis-Hobbs for violation of a Domestic Violence Injunction after a routine traffic stop of her red Taishou scooter.  Ms. Jakaitis-Hobbs was handcuffed and seated in the back of Gassen’s police vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe, while Officer Gassen was seated in the driver’s seat.  The police vehicle was parked on the side of the road, fully marked and had its emergency overhead lights activated.  A second police officer, Jeffrey Crawford, was standing on the passenger side of the vehicle conversing with the male passenger of Jakaitis-Hobbs’s scooter when  a yellow Nissan Xterra being driven by suspect Gino Morgan Marino struck the back left side of Gassen’s police vehicle, causing the vehicle to thrust forward several feet and pushing Officer Crawford away from the car.  The police vehicle was pushed into the parked scooter, causing damage, and Officer Crawford suffered a minor head contusion from striking a nearby tree.

Marino was detained after officers observed open containers of alcohol in his vehicle.  Marino, the officers and Jakaitis-Hobbs were treated a local hospital for minor, non-life threatening injuries.  Marino was later charged with Refusal to Submit to Testing and DUI, as well as received citations for Failure to Move Over/Slow Down, Open Container Violation and Failure to Wear a Seatbelt.

Mr. Marino is probably kicking himself for his error.  With two police and two civilian witnesses, as well as recorded video from the police vehicle’s dashboard camera, Marino’s case will be difficult (though not impossible) to defend.