Was Taken To Jail For Refusing To Move His Car At Accident Scene

A Florida physician assistant was arrested and taken to jail Thursday after he refused to move his car to allow a Volusia County Sheriff's helicopter to land at an accident scene.

The driver of an SUV had crashed into a tree after failing to negotiate a curve, and the helicopter was called because they thought the injured driver would need to be airlifted to a hospital.

According to a report in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, local and state police blocked traffic at the accident scene. But the PA, 52-year-old James Allen, reportedly drove his vehicle around the barricades, traveling off the pavement for about 200 feet. He was told to stop numerous times and to park his car off the highway out of the way of the helicopter, but refused to do so. When he finally did stop, he parked his car in on the pavement in the area cleared for the helicopter to land.

The aircraft was hovering over the accident scene, and eventually had to abort its landing attempt. The aircraft was sent back to its base when it was determined that the driver of the car in the accident had died in the crash.

According to the arrest report, Allen, a physician assistant at Urgent Care in Ormond Beach, told authorities he was unaware that the road was being blocked, and that he "always" goes around fire trucks and "never have had a problem before." The report indicates that Allen appeared to have a problem hearing several people who shouted at him as he drove around the eight emergency vehicles parked in the east lanes of the highway just after midnight Thursday.

Allen was arrested and charged with failure to obey police/fire department and resisting an officer without violence after he refused to produce his drivers when asked by a Sheriff's deputy. Both are misdemeanors. He spent the night in the Volusia County Branch jail and was released on his own recognizance. As he was being handcuffed, Allen reportedly asked the officers "What's this all about?"

(Image provided by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office)

FMI: www.volusiasheriff.org