Autopsy shows WPB Police Sgt. blood-alcohol was over three times the legal limit

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — We’re learning startling new details about a deadly traffic crash in July in Boynton Beach that killed a West Palm Beach Police Sergeant.

The new details of the fatal single-vehicle crash involving a member of the West Palm Beach Police Department are contained in a report from the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office, which includes the toxicology report.

The autopsy reveals the officer had been drinking that night before crashing his police vehicle.

West Palm Beach Police Sergeant Fernando Desouza Ferreira, 43, died in a car crash while off duty July 28 in Boynton Beach.

‘Operation Ripple Effect’: Pool company owner accused of multi-million dollar fraud scheme

We’re told around 2:15 a.m., he crashed his marked West Palm Beach Police 2022 Chevy Tahoe SUV into a concrete pole at the intersection of Hypoluxo Road and Lawrence Road.

We asked criminal defense attorney Gregg Lerman of West Palm Beach to look at the autopsy report.

”It’s made clear that the officer was under the influence certainly of alcohol and possibly under the influence at the same time of Prozac,” he said.

According to the toxicology report, Sgt. Ferreira’s blood alcohol level was 0.26, which is more than three times the legal limit. The level of alcohol in his urine measured 0.28.

“I don’t think anybody can drive safely with that amount of alcohol in their system,” Lerman said.

The toxicology report shows Ferreira’s blood also tested positive for Fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, an antidepressant.

See also:Why doesn’t California want an attempted murder suspect back following arrest in IRC?

“Definitely at the point that he was at, you should not be behind the wheel of a car. You have no business driving an automobile with that type of a blood alcohol level. Your motor skills, your thought process, your ability to react to situations are all affected negatively, deeply affected negatively,” Lerman said.

The Florida Traffic Crash Report shows Sgt. Ferreira’s estimated speed at the time of the crash was 61 miles per hour in an area where the posted speed limit was 45.

Investigators say the police SUV he was driving burst into flames when it crashed, causing several rounds of live ammunition in his car to explode.

Spent bullets and shell casings were scattered on the ground at the scene. The accident report says road conditions that night was “rainy.”

Lerman says nowadays there are plenty of options to avoid drinking and driving.

“It is easy to go on the phone and call an Uber or a Lyft. Or if you’re with a group of people, have a designated driver Period. There’s no reason for it and yet it continues to happen, and we continue to lose lives,” Lerman explained.

Lerman estimates Sgt. Ferreira had consumed 8 or 9 drinks that night, possibly as many as 12, to have had that level of alcohol in his system.

West Palm Beach Police did not return a call seeking comment.