More Details on Alleged Drunk Driver Who Killed Eight

Florida Highway Patrol Officer Gabriel Keyes found gouges in the ground, tire marks and a field of debris beside State Road 40 on Tuesday amid dead bodies and dozens of injured bus passengers.

Dozens of emergency vehicles responded to the deadly scene outside of Dunnellon, Fla. along one of the area’s main two-lane roads. A 2001 Ford Ranger collided with a bus killing eight people and injuring dozens of others, according to the police report Newsweek obtained.

Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, has pled not guilty to eight counts of DUI manslaughter after his pickup truck fatally sideswept a 2010 International Bus, according to Marion County jail records.

Howard was arrested Tuesday around 1:45 p.m. at Advent Hospital in Ocala for that morning’s crash, according to the arrest report.

He remains behind bars after he appeared in court Wednesday, where he pled not guilty, demanded a jury trial and requested a public defender, according to court and jail records.

The crash

Howard was traveling eastbound on State Road 40, while the bus was carrying workers westbound to a farming company for work. Howard entered the bus’s lane.

“The bus struck the Ranger, traveled off of the roadway, struck two fences and a tree and overturned,” the report by Keyes reads. “After impact, the Ranger continued eastbound and traveled onto the northern shoulder before stopping.”

Keyes wrote in the arrest report that the bus driver was also taken to a hospital, along with at least 33 other passengers.

The eight victims who died in the crash have not been identified yet. According to the arrest report, however, they were all Hispanic males. The report identifies their ages as 24, 20, 46, 21, 30 and 27. Two of the victims’ ages are unknown in the report.

Howard was found unresponsive in the driver seat of the Ranger. During questioning, police noted Howard’s “eyes were bloodshot and watery” and that his speech was “thick and slurred.”

He suffered a cut to his left ear which was bandaged, according to the arrest report.

“When asked about the crash, Howard could not explain how he came to be traveling in the wrong lane,” the report reads. “He denied passing any vehicles or being cut off by another vehicle.”

During the DUI investigation, Howard revealed he was in a crash several days before Tuesday’s collision.

He also failed to maintain balance and swayed during different standardized field sobriety exercises. He also had to be reminded to keep his head still, according to the arrest report. During the walk and turn, he stepped off of the line four times and failed to touch heel to toe five times.

Howard was placed under arrest for DUI manslaughter on eight accounts and was transported to Marion County Jail.

Further charges are pending investigation, according to the report.

Long list of driving violations

Howard has been previously convicted in 20 cases, including careless driving, driving without a license and leaving the scene of a crash, according to Marion County court records.

Court records show Howard was charged with being in the possession of alcohol while under 21 years of age in 2003.

He was not wearing a seat belt as a passenger later in the same year and then again twice as the driver, both in 2005.

There are two recorded accounts of Howard leaving the scene of a crash, once in 2006 and again later in 2019.

Court records show Howard was caught driving with an expired license twice. He drove with a suspended license four times.

He failed to stop at a red light twice, and Howard was charged three times for careless driving.

Howard also has a felony charge for grand theft larceny of stolen property.

Overall, Howard has paid over $4,350 for all of his charges, and he has spent a total of at least 61 days in prison.

Howard also was sued in 2021 over a crash that happened in 2018, which ended with the driver being hurt and their car damaged.

State Farm demanded $15,314 from Howard. A judge entered a default judgement of $15,936 plus interest. Howard paid $18,650 in July 2022.