Dashcam video shows Cassandra Smith failing field sobriety test in 2021

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published:

 

A dashcam video has surfaced of Cassandra Smith, the 30-year-old woman accused of driving drunk when she hit and killed Charlotte County Deputy Christopher Taylor, failing a field sobriety test before a previous arrest.

An arrest report from Palm Beach County in April 2021 says Smith was running vehicles off the road, almost hitting one of them and going up to 95 mph. The dashcam video of Smith’s arrest in Palm Beach shows her giggling and questioning her options if she doesn’t submit to a field sobriety test. After several minutes, she consents to the test.

Smith is instructed to follow a light with her eye without moving her head. She fails to follow the light as instructed several times and is seen stumbling and nearly falling. That test takes her around five minutes.

Cassandra Smith attempts to follow a light with her eyes without moving her head during a field sobriety test in April 2021. Credit: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

She then cannot stand on one leg as asked, trying and failing to use her arms for balance. At one point, a deputy has to keep Smith from falling to the ground after she stumbles. Smith also stumbles several times while touching her finger to her nose and appears to have difficulty following instructions.

“Have you had anything to drink tonight?” a deputy asks Smith.

“A white… and some prosecco,” Smith replies.

Smith fails the sobriety test and is arrested and charged with DUI. She was put on probation for a year. That ended in August. Last Tuesday night, Smith was arrested again, accused of DUI on I-75 in Charlotte County, swerving across three lanes of traffic and hitting and killing 23-year-old Deputy Christopher Taylor.

Smith is being held without bond in the Charlotte County Jail. Her next court appearance is in January.

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