DAVIS ISLAND – Tampa Police arrested and charged the University of Tampa student who crashed a vehicle into a wall on Davis Islands, seriously injuring a fellow student last November.
Michael Louis-Fernand, a freshman accounting major, was arrested Thursday, March 4 and charged with driving under the influence with the result of serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony.
According to reports Louis-Fernand’s blood-alcohol level results were between .139 and .140. The legal limit in Florida is .08.
Jorge Jimenez, a sophomore marketing major, and Michelle Sams, a sophomore exercise major, were also in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Sams suffered critical injuries including a lacerated liver and broken vertebrae. She was later released from Tampa General Hospital. Jiminez was treated and released from TGH the same day as the crash.
The crash occurred around 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 24 when Louis-Fernand, traveling westbound on W. Davis Boulevard, lost control of a 2009 Volkswagen GTI and struck a concrete wall in front of a home at 523 Erie Ave., according to a Tampa Police report. The Volkswagen was registered to Jiminez’s father.
When police arrived at the scene, Louis-Fernand stated he had gone to the Double Decker Lounge (formerly known as the Study Hall) earlier in the night.
He said he met with Jiminez and Sams there and drove to see friends on Davis Island, though he could not provide an address of where those friends lived.
Louis-Fernand stated that he hit the wall on Erie Ave. when he swerved in an attempt to miss a cat in the road.
According to the police report, however, the tire mark left on the roadway was not consistent with a skid mark.
UT students received word of the crash the day it occurred through a global message.
The news was especially unsettling because it came during a series of bad events last semester including a fatal hit-and-run and a fatal armed robbery.
Louis-Fernand has not yet been given a date to appear in court.
Look for updates online for this stories and others.
Sarah Gottlieb can be reached at sgottlieb@ut.edu.