South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Trial to begin for man accused of causing 2019 crash that killed deputy
Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Nimtz wasn’t planning to stay in South Florida for much longer.
Barely over a year into his service, he had already made plans to move to Indiana, where his wife and two children were waiting. He had a job interview lined up and much more.
But Nimtz, 30, would not live to see his new life come to fruition. Racing to answer a domestic disturbance call in Deerfield Beach at 3 a.m. on July 21, 2019, Nimtz’s patrol SUV collided with a civilian’s Toyota Tundra pickup.
On Monday attorneys and Broward Circuit Judge Tom Coleman will begin picking a jury to decide whether that civilian, Darran Johnson, was criminally responsible for causing the crash that ended Nimtz’s life.
Johnson, 36, is charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter, among other counts.
Investigators say he was drunk at the time of the crash and that he ran a red light at the intersection of Military Trail and Southwest 10th Street. Nimtz was pronounced dead a short time later at Broward Health North.
Nimtz, of West Palm Beach, served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and Iraq. He started working for the Broward Sheriff ’s Office in March 2018 but had lined up a series of interviews with the Fishers Police Department in Indiana. His next interview was scheduled for a month after the accident.
Johnson was arrested in January 2020 after an investigation, and he was released on a bond of over $100,000. Weeks later he was back in court, accused of violating the conditions of his pretrial release by tampering with the monitor that kept track of whether he was obeying the court order to refrain from alcohol.
Broward Circuit Judge Andrew Siegel revoked Johnson’s bond, and he has been in custody ever since.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday and testimony is expected to start Tuesday.