A 36-year-old man faces DUI charges after his Jeep struck a 3-year-old boy on Daytona Beach, sending the child to the hospital with a concussion and spinal fracture. Authorities say the boy darted in front of the vehicle, but witnesses reported the driver had been drinking. The suspect remains in custody on $11,000 bond.
Brock Adam Winkler was arrested Saturday after deputies responded to a 911 call around 4:14 p.m. near the University Boulevard beach access in Daytona Beach. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said a witness reported the child running from the ocean and darting into the path of Winkler's Jeep, which struck him at low speed. Winkler stayed at the scene during the investigation, and no traffic citation was issued for the crash itself, as it was attributed to the child's movement into traffic lane. The boy was rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center as a trauma alert. He suffered a concussion and a hairline fracture to his cervical spine but was discharged without surgery. Multiple witnesses told deputies that Winkler had consumed alcohol beforehand, with several empty beer cans found behind his parked Jeep, as shown in a photo posted by the sheriff's office on Facebook. An arrest affidavit noted Winkler's erratic behavior, including sudden crying followed by normal conversation and chewing gum upon deputies' arrival. Field sobriety tests provided probable cause for DUI causing serious bodily injury, and Winkler refused a breath test, adding another charge. Winkler, who said he works in construction and is blind in his left eye despite no corrective lens requirement on his license, was on pretrial release from Polk County for a burglary case involving his ex-wife. He remains at Volusia County Jail on $11,000 bond, with no immediate court date announced.
