CBS4 Exclusive: Accused Drunk Driver Speaks Out After Pickup Truck Plows Into Store
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – One day after a Fort Lauderdale man is charged with drunk driving because his black pickup truck plowed into a convenience store, that suspect is speaking out exclusively to CBS4, saying he is sorry and urging others to be careful with their driving.
"I am glad that nobody was seriously hurt," said 67-year-old Joseph Ligas. "And I feel sorry because I know the owner and I know the people who work there."
Ligas spoke with CBS4'S Peter D'Oench as he arrived at his Fort Lauderdale home in a yellow cab and after he had been released from jail. As Ligas spoke, he was clutching an 18-pack of Budweiser Lite which he had purchased at a store while on the taxi ride.
Surveillance tape captured Ligas's truck jumping a curb and smashing through a front window at the convenience store Tuesday afternoon at 1300 NE 4th Ave. A witness told police that Ligas was a frequent customer at the store which is just a few blocks from his home.
Ligas said he had a perfect driving record and had never been charged with drunk driving before and a police report said his breath alcohol level was .08, the minimum level for a DUI charge.
"What happened yesterday Joseph?" D'Oench asked Ligas.
"I pulled in to the store and I was slowing down and all of sudden the truck speeded up and I slammed on the brakes and jumped over the median, the curb and came to a stop at the store," he said. "I think there was a problem with my truck. I am going to take it to Massey Yardley and see what they say."
A police report said when Ligas got out of his truck, officers "observed signs of impairment... red bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitted from Joseph Ligas's breath."
Surveillance tape showed Ligas having trouble with a sobriety test.
"There is video of you having trouble with the sobriety test?" Ligas was asked.
"I have all sorts of problems," he said. "I can't do balance real well."
"You had a couple of beers?" Ligas was asked.
"Yes," he said.
"How many beers did you have?" he was asked.
"I had four beers," he replied.
"Do you regret what happened here?" he was asked.
"Heck yeah," he said. "I see it on the news and I read about it but you don't believe it until it happens to you. It shocked the hell out of me."
"Is there a lesson here Joseph," he was asked.
"Yes, be more, more careful and call a taxi or Uber," he said. "I had a perfect driving record until this. I apologize to everyone involved and to the police officers who came in off their days off to deal with this."
A Ligas spoke, workers were trying to repair the store, putting up shutters in place of the shattered window.
Ligas is charged with DUI as a first offense and DUI with property damage.
"I am not sure what I am going to do now, if I am going to get a lawyer," he said. "I have never had to deal with this before."
