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Hernando Today

S.O. Director Target Of Probe

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: July 15, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The sheriff's finance director is the target of an in-house investigation after she wrecked her pickup over the weekend.

Evidence at the scene suggested that Emily Vernon, 39, was drinking, but no arrest or citation for the crash was made.

Before explaining why, here's how a report says the night began:

At 12:34 a.m. Saturday, several witnesses began following a reckless driver northbound on U.S. 41 and later on Lake Lindsey Road. They told deputies the truck was swerving and that cars went off the road to avoid being struck.

At one point, near the big dinosaur on Lake Lindsey Road, witnesses lost sight of the truck. They caught up with the pickup at the intersection of Daly and Lake Lindsey roads, where a road sign was bent and Vernon was outside the truck inspecting the pickup's grill.

As the witnesses approached, Vernon climbed back into the truck. A witness asked her to turn off the truck and hand over the keys. She did so.

Vernon next poured the contents of a "liquor" bottle into a water bottle. The witness helped her cross the road, where she stumbled into a ditch.
Deputies showed up. They called for a traffic deputy to assist and added that their suspect, Vernon, was "dancing in the road."

The traffic deputy, Giselle Mulverhill, arrived and began her investigation. Vernon had a "faint" odor of alcohol on her breath; she seemed "overly relaxed." Vernon told Mulverhill she had drunk approximately half a bottle of wine and taken a dose of sleeping pills.

Vernon's explanation for running off the road was that she just "wasn't paying attention" and that she was "messing with the iPod." She wasn't visibly injured by the wreck.

As she searched through the pickup for her license and registration, Mulverhill said she saw two "Beringer" wine carafes. One was empty, the other full and closed. A plastic water bottle in the center console held a pinkish liquid that smelled like alcohol.

Mulverhill weighed her options. None of the witnesses physically saw Vernon behind the wheel, either when the pickup was swerving or at the time of the crash. The first deputies on scene found Vernon outside her vehicle, too.

Essentially, there was no proof Vernon was in "actual physical control" of the pickup. With the keys in the hands of the witness, she had no way to move the vehicle.

Mulverhill decided to work the scene strictly as a vehicle crash, a conclusion backed up by her supervisor, Sgt. Matt Lillibridge. Because there was no DUI investigation instigated, neither field sobriety nor breathalyzer tests were done.

Sgt. Jim Powers, spokesman, confirmed there was no arrest or ticket given, but that an internal affairs investigation was opened into Vernon's actions.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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