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HCSO: Hillsborough Co. deputy arrested for DUI after crash, was hiding in ditch

Posted at 11:02 AM, Jun 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-10 17:34:18-04

A deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is now suspended without pay after getting arrested early Friday morning, accused of driving drunk down the wrong way on I-75 and hitting a tractor trailer. 

Investigators say Justin Garrett was hiding in a ditch when the FHP trooper arrived to the scene of a banged up SUV on I-75 near the Hillsborough and Manatee county line.

They initially got a report of a wrong-way driver going south in the northbound lane of I-75 around 3am Friday morning.

The caller stated that the wrong-way driver hit and caused significant damage to a tractor trailor. 

The suspect faces a DUI as well as a charge for leaving the scene of a crash, and driving the wrong way.

Garrett works as a deputy for Hillsborough County out of the Ruskin office since 2011.

He was previously disciplined for an accident in November 2015 in his patrol car that was later determined to be his fault. The agency took his take-home car away for five days as punishment.

The driver of the semi was reportedly unhurt.