A Fort Walton Beach man was found guilty on Tuesday of DUI manslaughter and DUI causing serious bodily injury for a 2023 crash that killed a beloved local lab technician and left a passenger in his truck permanently disabled.
- Benjamin David Raser was found guilty July 28 after a two-day trial, according to the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida.
The crash happened at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2023. Investigators determined Raser was driving a Ford F-150 north on Wright Parkway in Fort Walton Beach at an estimated 60 to 70 mph in a posted 30 mph zone. As he approached the intersection of Wright Parkway and Holmes Boulevard, Raser failed to stop at the four-way stop, investigators said.
Raser’s vehicle entered the intersection and struck the driver’s side of a four-door sedan driven by 52-year-old Demetrius Thomas. The impact pinned Thomas inside his vehicle, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner testified that Thomas died from significant blunt force trauma and internal bleeding.
- Raser’s passenger, Garrett LeBlanc, survived but suffered catastrophic spinal cord injuries that left him permanently disabled. Raser was not injured.
During the traffic homicide investigation, Fort Walton Beach police obtained and executed a search warrant for a sample of Raser’s blood. Testing showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.187, more than twice Florida’s legal limit of 0.08.
Thomas worked as a lab technician at Magnolia Medical Clinic in Fort Walton Beach. After his death, Dr. Chris Pappas, senior physician at the clinic, told Get The Coast, “We are diminished. He was a key family member of Magnolia and what made us special.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20 before Circuit Judge William Stone. Raser faces up to 20 years in prison.
The Fort Walton Beach Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant State Attorney Leah Glisson prosecuted the case on behalf of Ginger Bowden Madden, state attorney for the First Judicial Circuit.
