Alleged Drunken Driver Starts Brush Fire With Flaming Vehicle, Keeps Driving

A Florida man is facing charges after he allegedly sparked a brush fire with his flaming vehicle, then continued driving while allegedly intoxicated, with his wife in the passenger seat, authorities said.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded Friday to a report of a car on fire driving on U.S. Route 192. They arrived to find Brevard County Fire Rescue actively extinguishing a brush fire that was started by a vehicle fire. 911 callers reported that the vehicle on fire had initially stopped, but the driver returned to his car and continued driving with “heavy smoke” coming from the vehicle.

The sheriff’s office said the driver, identified as Patrick Rinaldi, stopped a short distance later as “flames were taking over the vehicle,” but drove away again.

“Well eventually he had to stop because of the fire, and when doing so was barely able to help his wife escape from the fire,” the sheriff’s office said.

When deputies questioned Rinaldi, they allegedly smelled alcohol. Rinaldi allegedly told deputies he’d only had one beer, but they located a bottle of liquor on the floorboard of the car. The sheriff’s office said Rinaldi failed a field sobriety test and refused a breath test.

Rinaldi was arrested and transported to the Brevard County Jail on charges of DUI and refusal to submit.

“Thank you to the citizens who called this in and tried to help, and to our great partners at Brevard County Fire Rescue for getting the fire out,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey said. “There will never be a valid reason to drink and drive and this man is lucky no one lost their life yesterday due to his bad decisions.”