Probe shows proper action in France case
By LYDA LONGA /Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Officers who responded to the riverfront condominium of NASCAR President Brian France after a witness reported a man driving "at a very reckless speed" last month, handled the case properly, the State Attorney's Office has said.
A letter from the State Attorney's Office sent Friday to Daytona Beach police came after an internal investigation to determine whether officers gave France special treatment the night they went to his Marina Pointe residence.
On Nov. 6, a motorist called 911 after spotting a man in a Lexus racing down Ridgewood Avenue, Orange Avenue and Beach Street.
The caller, store clerk Shirley Hill of Daytona Beach, followed France to the guard shack of his condo while she spoke to the dispatcher and described how the man was driving on curbs, struck a parked car and then scraped a tree.
Hill had no idea the driver she was pursuing was the NASCAR CEO until a condo security guard told her.
When questioned, France told officers he was driving and drinking a soda when he "bumped into something," the initial report states. When police checked the inside of his four-door car, they saw evidence of a spilled soft drink.
The 44-year-old France was not cited and he was not given a field sobriety test. Police at the scene said he did not smell of alcohol, Chief Mike Chitwood said at the time.
However, the same week the incident occurred, Chitwood ordered an internal-affairs investigation into how the officers handled the case.
The chief said he asked the State Attorney's Office to weigh in on the matter because he wanted to know whether his officers should have leveled some kind of charge against France.
But in a two-sentence letter dated Dec. 8, Assistant State Attorney Robert J. Bobek wrote: "Based on the report you provided, we believe the officers took the appropriate action."
Witness Hill was not surprised with that decision.
"Unjustice was done," she said Tuesday night. "But I guess I don't have that last name -- my name ain't France."
Results of the internal affairs investigation were not released Tuesday and Chitwood could not be reached for comment.
By LYDA LONGA /Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Officers who responded to the riverfront condominium of NASCAR President Brian France after a witness reported a man driving "at a very reckless speed" last month, handled the case properly, the State Attorney's Office has said.
A letter from the State Attorney's Office sent Friday to Daytona Beach police came after an internal investigation to determine whether officers gave France special treatment the night they went to his Marina Pointe residence.
On Nov. 6, a motorist called 911 after spotting a man in a Lexus racing down Ridgewood Avenue, Orange Avenue and Beach Street.
The caller, store clerk Shirley Hill of Daytona Beach, followed France to the guard shack of his condo while she spoke to the dispatcher and described how the man was driving on curbs, struck a parked car and then scraped a tree.
Hill had no idea the driver she was pursuing was the NASCAR CEO until a condo security guard told her.
When questioned, France told officers he was driving and drinking a soda when he "bumped into something," the initial report states. When police checked the inside of his four-door car, they saw evidence of a spilled soft drink.
The 44-year-old France was not cited and he was not given a field sobriety test. Police at the scene said he did not smell of alcohol, Chief Mike Chitwood said at the time.
However, the same week the incident occurred, Chitwood ordered an internal-affairs investigation into how the officers handled the case.
The chief said he asked the State Attorney's Office to weigh in on the matter because he wanted to know whether his officers should have leveled some kind of charge against France.
But in a two-sentence letter dated Dec. 8, Assistant State Attorney Robert J. Bobek wrote: "Based on the report you provided, we believe the officers took the appropriate action."
Witness Hill was not surprised with that decision.
"Unjustice was done," she said Tuesday night. "But I guess I don't have that last name -- my name ain't France."
Results of the internal affairs investigation were not released Tuesday and Chitwood could not be reached for comment.