A Deltona Fire Department paramedic is facing DUI charges after New Smyrna Beach police officers found him unconscious behind the wheel at a central Florida intersection, with the vehicle still in drive and cannabis inside the car. The incident, captured on body camera footage, raises some pointed questions about impaired driving law, professional accountability, and what exactly qualifies as “operating” a vehicle under Florida statute.
Brandon Berry, a paramedic employed by the Deltona Fire Department in Volusia County, was discovered by New Smyrna Beach officers at the intersection of North Dixie Freeway and Wayne Avenue. According to authorities, officers had to knock on the car window to rouse him. Berry was not pulled over in the traditional sense. He was simply found there, asleep, with the transmission apparently left in drive.
The presence of cannabis in the vehicle adds a layer that Florida law treats very seriously, regardless of the state’s relatively recent embrace of medical marijuana. Florida does not have a legal per se limit for THC in the blood the way it does for alcohol, which makes cannabis DUI cases more reliant on officer observation, field sobriety tests, and toxicology results. That ambiguity has not stopped prosecutors from pursuing charges, and courts have consistently upheld DUI convictions tied to marijuana impairment when the behavioral evidence is strong enough.
What makes this case particularly notable, beyond the obvious professional irony of an emergency medical worker being found unresponsive at an intersection, is the legal question of whether Berry was technically “operating” the vehicle at all. Florida’s DUI statute covers anyone who is driving or in “actual physical control” of a vehicle. Courts have long held that sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine running and the transmission in drive qualifies as physical control, even if the car is stationary. Berry, by all accounts, checked every one of those boxes.
What Florida Law Says About Cannabis and DUI
Florida Statute 316.193 defines DUI as operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol, chemical substances, or controlled substances to the extent that normal faculties are affected. Cannabis, even when legally obtained through the state’s medical marijuana program, does not grant a driver immunity from impairment charges.
Florida has no established nanogram threshold for THC in blood or urine the way many states do, which means each cannabis DUI is evaluated on observed behavior and expert testimony rather than a clean numerical cutoff.
That legal framework puts a significant amount of weight on what officers actually saw, which in this case was a paramedic asleep at the wheel of a car sitting in drive at a public intersection. From an evidentiary standpoint, that is not a difficult scene to describe to a jury.
The “Actual Physical Control” Standard
Florida courts have addressed the physical control question repeatedly over the decades. The standard does not require a vehicle to be moving. In fact, Florida courts have found physical control in cases where defendants were asleep, unconscious, or simply sitting with keys in the ignition.
The logic is straightforward: a person who can wake up and drive poses the same public safety risk as someone who is actively driving. The vehicle in this case was reportedly left in drive, which only reinforces that determination.
This standard exists specifically to close the loophole that some impaired drivers attempt to use by claiming they had pulled over to “sleep it off.” While sleeping it off is genuinely safer than driving impaired, Florida law makes clear that doing so in the driver’s seat with the vehicle running does not automatically escape DUI exposure. Some legal advocates have argued the standard is overly broad, but the statute has survived repeated challenges in Florida courts.
Professional Fallout for a First Responder
Berry’s employer, the Deltona Fire Department, has not issued public statements about his employment status as of the time of this report. DUI charges against first responders carry professional consequences that go well beyond the criminal process.
Florida Emergency Medical Services personnel are licensed through the Florida Department of Health, and any criminal conviction, particularly one involving impairment, can trigger a license review or revocation proceeding independent of whatever sentence a court imposes.
For paramedics specifically, the professional stakes are high. EMS licensure in Florida requires holders to self-report certain criminal charges within a defined timeframe, and agencies are generally required to cooperate with state investigations. A DUI conviction in this context does not simply mean fines and potential license suspension on the road; it can effectively end a career.
Body Camera Footage and the Role of Transparency
The fact that this incident was captured on body camera footage matters beyond the immediate case. Body cameras have become a standard accountability tool in Florida law enforcement, and their presence in situations like this one creates a clear, unambiguous record of what officers encountered.
In this case, the footage reportedly shows officers knocking on the window of Berry’s vehicle to wake him, which is about as straightforward an evidentiary record as a prosecutor could ask for.
Florida has seen ongoing legislative and departmental debates about body camera policies, storage requirements, and public records access. While those debates continue, incidents like this one illustrate why the footage exists in the first place. When the facts are this direct, the camera functions less as a check on police conduct and more as a simple corroboration of events that would otherwise come down to officer testimony alone.
Berry’s charges remain pending, and the outcome of the case will depend on the toxicology results, the field sobriety observations, and whatever defense his legal team mounts. But the intersection of a stopped vehicle in drive, an unconscious driver, and cannabis on scene gives Florida prosecutors a considerable amount to work with.
Local authorities did not release any photographs of Berry. When agencies provide limited details, we supplement reporting with local news coverage, public records, and direct outreach whenever possible. In this case, no additional information was available at the time of publication.