After DUI Crash, Call a Personal Injury Lawyer

Forty minutes before a recent DUI-related accident resulted in the death of a woman and an injured passenger, deputies from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office had contact with Blake Talman, the allegedly drunk driver, and knew that he was inebriated. Who is responsible for this death and the injury of the other passenger? The driver? The sheriff’s office? The widow of the woman who died should consult with a personal injury lawyer to sort out the circumstances that transpired that night, as should the injured passenger in Talman’s vehicle. According to the Herald-Tribune, Talman and his friend, David Brewer, had gone to the beach to hang out and have a good time. They had taken along two bottles of liquor. Sheriff’s deputies were called to the beach when the two became disorderly. According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, they suspected that Talman was intoxicated, but did not detain or arrest him as he was not being disorderly at the time. Deputies then watched Talman, Brewer, and Michael Blakey walk toward the parking lot. Less than an hour after deputies confronted Talman and Brewer on the beach, Talman had struck a truck, fled the scene, struck a metal pole, and struck 53-year-old Donna Chen, who died as a result. In addition to her husband, Wellington Chen, Mrs. Chen leaves behind three children ages 20, 18, and 15. Clearly, Chen’s death is a tragedy of epic proportions. However, it is made all the more heart-wrenching when one considers all of the reasons why it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. A personal injury lawyer might well ask why Talman was ever behind the wheel of his Nissan Altima when deputies who suspected he was inebriated saw him walking, keys in hand, into a parking lot. Though a personal injury lawyer can’t bring back Donna Chen or anyone else who has been the victim of a wrongful death, a skilled personal injury lawyer can help a family to obtain the justice they deserve whether the accident was in Sarasota, Siesta Key, or Fort Lauderdale. The grief that a family experiences when losing a loved one in such a tragic way will never fully go away, but the family may be able to achieve at least some measure of closure in knowing that those responsible for the death of a loved one have been held accountable. If you’ve lost a loved one at the hands of a drunk driver or in some other accident, contact a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer today to determine if you have a wrongful death case.