the white car liked first and then all a sudden bam just out of nowhere I I didn't do anything WR please Tuesday February 20th 2024 Okala Florida authorities received a call about a tragic accident that occurred on Southeast 38th Avenue the police along with EMS and firefighters rushed urgently to the scene gradually more calls came in reporting the same details indicating that it was a serious situation I'm Tyler and this is your daily dose of [Music] crime you guys saw what happened well we were coming right here and then either this car was the car the white car was either pulling out or it just stopped and then the other car over there hit him so hard it almost hit us that car almost got us cuz it it started right here and it went way over there and that one went up way over it started right here see the pole this where it started right here this where you got hit right there and he hit that and he went like Circle and this one flew this way all the way around all that dude we barely avoided it yes we were right here coming up where's your car at right here here okay at first glance the scene was horrific a car off the road a car overturned and engulfed in flames and a body only a few feet away officers quickly took control shutting down traffic and clearing the area and then began searching for the injured so that EMS could assist them properly the onlookers were deeply shaken by the event the scene was devastating and the police had to follow protocol to prevent things from getting worse so I need somebody down there I want somebody down there to make sure we don't have we need somebody down there to make sure this is you work Southeast right yeah I'm going to work okay you work the primary on the crash then so stay here ver where's your car right there go get your car and uh I want you to take it all the way down there okay and Main light no yeah that's fine but stay down there and make sure no traffic Comes This Way okay just di it on 17 I don't care okay I need somebody down there yeah we've had we've had a few down there okay he's like what's going on so uh he said to find out he said where's the body at right there um right in the the median got it okay next to the fireman that's what he wanted to know so we have I just talked to these this couple they were going this direction when it happened these two cars are going this way they don't know if they were in the same lane or if they were in opposite Lanes there's some kind of collision that caused the other cars behind all those fire trucks and we don't know how it if it first hit that or or whatever the case is but okay but so just to have an officer stay clear of that area he said and then I'll tell him he's right there so it it somehow started like right here in the Medan what's that lt's in the median okay and I'm behind him so but there's cars I don't know if there's anybody up there yet this these people right here in this Corolla they are actually witnesses to it cuz they were coming Northbound when it happened they don't remember seeing exactly what happened but they saw that car as well as another car the it's the other vehicle involved is behind that uh fire truck yeah someone's um it spun out and then ended up over there because they 9 so I'm having them stay here they said it somewhere starts around this area just south of this intersection we're in right now okay so that's why I moved Kelly's car they must have been hauling ass that was it Maserati looks like I I mean cuz we are both parked in and speaking of which we need to two witnesses became ke to the investigation both were at the scene when the accident took place and they were able to provide detailed accounts of the events their information could be crucial for the investigation the police needed to gather as much information as possible and urgently determine how many victims were involved so far one body had been found in the street but until the Flames were extinguished they didn't know if there were more victims on the scene there it's just paramedics working it right now uh getting the fire out um Sergeant got me moving my vehicle at some else just keep this blocked and diverting is it Asher yes okay um I'm getting no match for North Carina do you guys mind if I speak to him or do you want me to hold off yes yeah okay all right a I'm officer PR okay um I just need a summary of what happened I know it might have happened fast it did which way were you going let's start there South you were going Southbound were you in the inside lane or the outside Lane I don't know you don't remember which lane were you closest to the curb or closest to the median uh left wait it's tight it's tight your blood prood okay were you wearing your seat belt yes about how fast were you going I don't know about speed limit maybe yeah yeah yes the speed Li straight I I hear you listen accidents happen okay I just need I just need to to find out what happened so we can do our paperwork correctly [Music] okay okay relax relax relx relax listen he is okay listen listen he is okay I'm right my mom right here baby I'm here please I I didn't do anything pleas please come here please come here can I [Music] have promise I swear to you I didn't do hey Asher Asher do you want mom or dad in here it's okay Dad is sitting mom now are you okay Mom can you stand there's just another officer out here if you don't mind just hanging out on the sidewalk and I'm going to have somebody come car over there right I'm sorry I got you got move nowhere near that so if you don't mind just moving your car whenever you finish moving your car we you should be able to see him okay I'm going to close the door he is Absol he's fine he doesn't want to go to the hospital they they don't say that he has to go to the hospital but I got to talk to him okay so I'm gonna close the door because I don't want pictures to be taken I'm sure you don't want pictures to be taken okay because they all right Asher I'm here I'm here okay inside one of the ambulances 17-year-old Frank Scutter was receiving medical attention for severe injuries his emotional state was fragile and the teenager was still in shock suffering from panic attacks that the paramedics were trying to calm his condition seemed critical and officers needed to do everything they could to avoid making matters worse all right so just a couple more questions okay what your name I'm a Michael yes and your officer officer it's taking your blood pressure you're F you are in good hands you are fine all so which way was that the other car going and is that the only car involved I don't know you don't know that you I just knew I was going south because I had to go I think I had to go west get my were you going were you going Southbound okay where did you where did you make initial impact was it at the light or before the light Perez yes sir I don't know I woke up and I was okay so you don't you don't remember oh my god did did you go out did you go out Dad Dad I don't know I don't I don't know you don't remember the accident no no I don't know okay did you you woke up and then we were there yes were did you crawl out of the car or you just woke up on the side of the road does he any the only thing that I remember is being pulled into this car undering when he flies he has has anet that aniy you you fly airplanes yes you fly airplanes hey take a deep breath okay I'm going to come back and talk to you in a little bit okay I'm going to let them do their job and and figure out a little bit more about you okay am I okay Dad you're fine you're fine Frank said that he couldn't remember anything about the accident except that he had been heading south and the moment he collided with the other car after that he only recalled waking up to the horrific scene around him the psychological Trauma from the accident became clear with frequent panic attacks officers couldn't take a statement from Scutter at that time since he wasn't in any condition to speak um I have my car over yeah I just need I just need to control families to make sure that's Mom right there make sure you keep them on the sidewalk for me please right up there 13 Street our car's right there is it okay if you cut between the rescue and your car here circle around this back yeah if you guys are able to yeah I we have plenty of room I can guide him through okay yeah just do that yeah just do that for me did you see anything or I did you did did anybody come talk to you not yet no okay did he see anything as well he ma okay give me give me a couple minutes go standby over by your vehicle I'll have an officer go talk to you okay so if you want to I'm going to talk to you kind of separately did y'all both witness it yeah okay so I'll talk to him first for a minute and then I'll talk to you and I'll get y' out here what' you see okay um coming in this direction uh the light was green you were heading North I was heading this way North okay and then right as I get past the light a little bit CU it was green and I was driving I was talking to my wife and all of a sudden as cuz I'm driving like this so you can see traffic and it wasn't really there wasn't no one behind me and really no traffic it was just those us three cars mhm okay so I'm like this and I see the white car lights first and then all of a sudden bam just out of nowhere and then once it hit it kind of like it it kind of like blew up and flamed instantly and then it hit the pole and then once it hit the pole my eyes got off of that part and then the other card uh ricor Shad to the just to the left like this it hit them they went like this and the other one went way off like this and then right when that happened she was like freaking out thinking like oh [ __ ] it's coming in our Direction so I slammed on my brakes and it just went right by us okay the other car went right by us and ended up over there the silver one or gray one ended up over there okay and then when that car went by us cuz I took my attention off the whole thing I just seen the car go by and then and then the corner of my eye that's when I seen the flipping still was it flipping like like was it like this like once it once it hit the pole it it it once it it hit the pole like this the car hit it it hit the pole and started flipping so boom so it was flipping not spinning no that if it that thing was flipping it was not spinning okay did you uh prior to impact did you see the other car no that's the thing I was U this heel part right here heel part I seen the other car first like I said I'm like this so it's kind of like you know your vision you kind of it's not like I'm looking over here but I seen the other car first and I just seemed to hit M just like that was was the was the white car slowing down was that's the part I don't even know I don't even know if it was coming off that road cuz it was so close right here you turned but they both was facing like this so they're they're right behind each other no well that's the part I don't know cuz like I said I seen the first car I don't know I I didn't see him closed I just the hit okay but like Instant Pop like I'm driving and all a sudden bam so I didn't see the other car come up and hit it I just you just heard it yeah and then I looked over and sitting there so so you don't know if that if the Mazda was slowing down you don't know if the Mazda was going at speed you don't know if it stopping traffic you don't know if the uh other vehicle was was speeding or anything you just heard it yeah you you as you was going you saw the lights kind of up on the hill a little bit here and then as soon as you saw the light the impact happened no nope no okay didn't see that car until no no no the white car the white car definitely seen first that's what that's what I'm saying you saw the white lights and then almost immediately after you saw the white lights you saw you heard the impact yeah okay but you never saw the other car the car car coming or anything like that like that that's the only car okay and then uh you said that as soon as you you heard the impact you then saw the car erupt in Flames yeah it was like a boom like a was explosion but it was okay soon as it hit and then cuz it hit hit the pole like it they weren't even far from that pole that that that's bent they hit that pole and it went it was like a like like this like boom and then started flipping what side hit the pole the driver side man you know what I'm almost thinking yeah almost the whole kind of like the whole that's the part that's the part that I can't really explain on part I just know boom and flipping and then so so when you say flipping your thing more more like a like Barrel like like a barrel roll flip like a barrel roll flip okay and it flipped oh man it flipped a bunch of times before it stopped right there did was it ever on its roof at all no no no no if it no it was already the way it was it didn't like you know what I mean it where it stopped at is where where it stopped but it was just tumbling like that a witness described the accident they had never seen the other car in the scene only one with white lights coming from the opposite direction then there was a violent crash where one of the cars veered off course and nearly hit them while the other vehicle continued spinning until it exploded with a loud bang there was no record of how far away the other car was before the Collision so officers could only make an educated guess however the cameras would reveal the truth about what happened who was responsible for the accident so you said that you um you heard it you came outside saw the car engulfed my daughter and I were sitting in the living room we heard it and you know what you know you know that impact you kind of know what it is and so I jumped up literally didn't grab my phone nothing just ran around the corner by the time I could get right here I saw the flames and I yelled back at my daughter who was coming out the door I said call 911 and yeah I I literally sprinted right across this yard got right down to the car like I said there's nothing I could do at that point it was just too not then I noticed the guy laying on the ground and he was in really bad shape there was I mean there was nothing I could do to even attempt to save him you know okay CPR and I mean I I didn't want to touch him because I just saw his head and half of it gone and I said you know and so then I left him looked at the car again I was thinking damn if somebody else is in there like it's just an awful feeling but there's nothing I could freaking do so I ran across the road got to the other vehicle on the other side and um the kid was still sitting in the in the car where was he sitting at he sitting in the driver's seat but the car was full of smoke you know the airbags had all gone off I just said you know we need to get you out of the car and I could tell he had some head trauma he was in shock and so I said lift up you know your left leg for me lift up your right leg want to make sure you didn't have a spawn aord injury um got him out of the vehicle another lady somewhere over on the other side of the road was there to help me he got him out of the vehicle got him sat down on the grass can you describe what he look like uh tall slender teenage boy curly hair dark curly hair um good looking kid so anyway got him out of the car got him on the ground Sor sorry you know what he was wearing if can you remember that much uh jeans dark or light color uh like a regular blue pair of blue jeans it looked like to me I think um and and maybe and a dark colored like a black I don't know if it was short sleeve or long sleeve shirt I don't want to say it's a short sleeve black shirt okay and and and you you saw him behind the driver's se he was sitting in the driver's seat there was no other nobody else in the vehicle the airbag was completely covering the passenger side um so he was the only one in the vehicle but he was sitting in the driver's seat just by himself off if he had already taken a seat belt off obviously his was drained what was his demeanor like when you uh saw him in shock disoriented you know kind of widey you know typical kind of shock presentation um just kind of delirious got him out of the car and he's I said can you tell me what happened he had no clue and I said um I hit my head I hit my head and then he just started freaking out crying you know I hit my head that that phone number says and then the neighbor went into the car and got his phone and said it on his lap and said do you want you know do you want to call your parents you want to call your mom whatever and then a couple seconds later he called his mom and I could hear him on the phone with his mom while he was on the phone with his mom did what did you hear first thing I heard was I you I've been in an accident um I haven't been drinking or nobody nobody has been drinking something to that effect on the phone with his mom yeah I yeah he on the phone with his mom then said said something to the effect of I have I haven't been drinking or nobody has been drinking something along those lines and then he said um then he just started saying please come please come help me help me I'm so scared please the following day police continued with their investigation and after consult Consulting with local neighbors they then tracked down a man who had helped Frank and pulled him from the car according to his statement there was no one else in the vehicle except for the teenager he described Frank as being extremely scared in shock and desperately asking for help Frank seemed to be clinging to those around him but something unusual caught the officer's attention as soon as Frank made contact with someone After exiting the vehicle he insisted that he hadn't been drinking even though no one had accused him of that hey could detective donh ni you the reason we came here today was just to try to talk to some kids about uh a case we're investigating with the crash of uh Frank Asher Scutter ivth yes sir you know who that is right yes sir friend of yours okay um just to clarify things you're not in any trouble we're just trying to figure out what may or may not have happened so we just ask for honesty or anything like that um have you T talked to anybody since yesterday about uh Asher's situation not specifically not about his case necess Okay Okay um basically um what what can you tell me about Asher as far as has this crash happened on Tuesday um at about 8:30 p.m. okay do you remember do you remember the day of the crash or hearing about it the next day or or what have you um I didn't hear about it till the next morning Wednesday morning okay I thought about it okay was that through the news or um my parents called me parents called you they saw the news okay how long have you been friends with Asher I'd say for good few years I've known him throughout middle school and a senior high school oh I assuming you're saying you your parents told you about it on Wednesday um do you do you remember Tuesday yourself what you may have done or not done or visited or anything like that um well I'm on a lacrosse team so I've been really busy at lacrosse we had a game Monday night and I remember Tuesday we had practice and I was just kind of like thinking about lacrosse the entire time really communicate as at all okay so you don't didn't have any communication with them on Tuesday the day of the crash yes sir okay do you know of Asher to drink alcohol uh yes sir heard it okay um do you know how he gets his alcohol since he's 17 I do not recall I don't don't know exactly sure sure sure um do you know of him to go anywhere like like with a fake ID or something like that or have an arrangement at a restaurant or anything like that to get served and trick the server pay the server anything like that I've not heard you have not heard any any of that rumor okay do you have any questions of us is there anything important that that we haven't talked about that you think is important in the situation with Asher um no sir now okay okay gotcha the reason we ask allot the questions that because it's just information we keep when something like this happens especially this know like it's out there all over social media and stuff you know we get all sorts of tips so it's our job to get to the bottom of it so that's why we ask the questions that we do so if anybody knows anything however like we we want the facts yes sir I understand however it shakes out to be so make sure you give us a call and and let us know if someone has any information to the ride um whatever the information be I don't care we don't care what it is yes sir Wednesday February 28th detectives continued their investigation and began questioning Frank's lacrosse teammates the first person interviewed said he hadn't been in contact with Frank since Monday the day of the game and that he hadn't heard anything about him other than the accident detectives would ask about scutter's alcohol use and and the boy admitted to having seen his friend drink but didn't know how he got the alcohol I mean obviously I think you know when I were just here we're talking about um Frank Asher Scutter I fourth's crash and um you're not alleged to be involved in that in any way or anything like that we're just trying to find some facts good or bad just looking for honesty about things um he was involved in that crash you probably know on uh Tuesday night about 8:23 p.m. is what time I got called in um we're just trying to figure out basically what may have happened that night leading up to that crash um I understand I mean your your name was mentioned as being one of his friends you and I realize there's a friend relationship there and we're just asking not to embellish anything not to cover anything up or good or bad whatever the whatever the truth is is all we're asking for you know not trying to trick you or anything like that uh we're just here to try to find facts good bad or indifferent um the um like I said the crash happened Tuesday night uh are you on any teams here at the school yeah I play lacrosse okay okay so in talking to some other students I guess there was a lacrosse game um Monday which was President's Day the day before this crash yes is that ringabell you guys had was that a home game away game do you remember where y'all played at think it was home no no I think it was up in Orlando okay okay so that's so when you have a game that's is that kind of like an all day deal for the team yeah kind of are they night games or Day games or uh I think we played at like 5 p.m. okay so I'm just trying to refresh your memory on on the time frames we're talking about um do you remember having any contact with Asher like the day of that lacrosse game or the day of the crash or anything like that before that the last time I talked to him was that Sunday night okay and what what was that was that a uh we went over to one of my friends house we were playing C games okay poker Knight or something with the guys over there was that at Grayson's Grayson's house okay some tough questions to ask just just to let you know um does does Asher drink alcohol I know a lot of kids do yeah okay um do you know how he normally gets his alcohol since he's 17 um the second person interviewed said the same as the first he hadn't been in contact with Frank and knew no details about the accident however when asked about Frank's alcohol consumption the person provided a brand new statement that led authorities to realize there was a serious issue with Frank's drinking habits it gave them a clue as to what may have caused the accident but were the detectives being assertive enough two people had died in the crash and the cameras had captured a devastating accident that pointed to a driver who was unconscious behind the wheel okay and I guess yeah are you friends with Ash everybody calls him Asher right not F his nickname is just Asher he's always gone by that okay um I've been friends with him for a few years few years okay um so we're not trying to do anything other than just get the facts um and I know you guys are friends and and I know that puts you in kind of a position but uh we're not looking for anything necessarily good necessarily bad we just just what what what if anything happened that's all um so the crash happened Tuesday night uh February 20th at 8:23 p.m. okay um are you on any teams here at the school yes sir I play lacrosse lacrosse okay um so I as I understand lacrosse had a game Monday President's Day which is the day before this crash yes sir okay was that here in Okala or was that elsewhere the game Monday that was in Lake believe okay okay so are you you familiar with the dates that I'm telling you about lacrosse game Crash day and then here we are you know several days later um did did you have any contact with Asher on the day of this crash the Tuesday not not directly to him um you know of course we you know have a group chat and stuff like that that you know we're all friends in okay um that's the only thing that I might have talked to him but like directly to him though not so physically in his presence at all I didn't I didn't not see him that day okay was there was was there any indicators on the group text of what Asher was doing that day that's right okay do you know Asher when he normally gets out of school is he an all day student or uh he he has a i I think he has a full schedule or close to a full schedule okay um and uh we we would hang out outside of school we haven't hung out so much recently because of Lacrosse and I have a job all been so we haven't hung out so much recently but yes we have fun outside of school okay um I think the school told me that he gets out at like 3:03 p.m. it's kind of a weird time is that like the normal that's that's the end of the day for the school okay and did um was there anything to indicate he had went somewhere before this crash or anything like that honestly did not hear anything about it until the morning after when my parents came in my room in the morning CU originally everyone thought that Asher was in serious condition critical condition right so they were worried they wanted me to know so okay I didn't hear anything about it until the morning after okay um was was there something in the group chat from the day of the crash no no um the only thing that I heard about someone having contact with him was I'm sure you guys already heard about it was uh Lauren lstr strong she was in contact with him the night of from from what I've heard I don't know if it's true or not from what I've heard and um apparently after the crash uh he was on Snapchat like you know like talking to not talking to people but if you know what Snapchat is you can send pictures and stuff like that and apparently while he was in the ambulance he was sending a few people pictures and stuff but I did not receive any of them okay okay do you have do you know what number he normally communicates from uh I have it on my phone I can look at it if you want yeah if you don't mind you have it with you yeah is there would you mind just to verify what you said that you didn't have any contact with him on on the 20th would you mind showing us your text log from February 20th if that's all right it's not that think you did any wrong but I told the others we just have to turn every stone so that way someone later on can't say yeah he was messaging you know yeah so this is my my contact with him I texted him on Friday just saying hey how are you doing um and then the time that I contact him before that was February 10th okay so February 10th and if you wouldn't mind the next date says Friday which was what date Friday I didn't see anything on there between February 10th everything was February 10th and then it switched to Friday so so we can if somebody ask us later we can say we talked to Campbell Campbell showed us his phone nothing was showing on text or anything like that um so we're just trying to see if there was anything that happened in that crash that shouldn't have happened um uh luckily Asher's okay unfortunately two people were deceased in that crash okay um and we're not saying Asher did anything wrong we're not saying Asher did not do anything wrong but whenever something that serious happens if it was me in that crash or him or you it'd be the same situation you know what I mean people would be asking questions um so that's I mean I've still got questions too I completely understand okay um um so what can you tell me is is Asher's habits of doing after school or anything like that um I mean I I know he normally has like a nightly routine um normally from what I heard he goes home just does his homework um other than that I don't really know what he does throughout the night because he doesn't have a job he doesn't play sports or anything like that okay um but he is he focuses a lot on academics right um but I know he has a nightly routine where he like goes in his hot tub and you know like takes a ni shower and stuff like that okay does he live with his grandma or Mom or do you know predominantly with his grandparents okay and that's over and the kind of like the historic district of oala yes sir okay so if if he does how does he get alcohol um from what I've heard um he does go to a few restaurants um and uh there was also a kid named Anthony Smith who um was kind of like his Doom man and he would like you know pay him and he would go get it and all that stuff those were the two things that me heard okay like I assume Anthony Smith is a friend of his that is I think they hung out like here and there but it was more of just like a mutual relationship where Anthony would get money AER would get okay um did you hear about uh Asher ever going to any restaurants and getting served like alcohol by some arrangement with an employee there or something like that um I heard of some things um I couldn't confirm it though I I definitely heard some things did you hear it from Asher not from him okay what what did what was the rumor you heard uh that that exactly what you said was he sometimes went to restaurants and got served was the rumor indic indicating a particular restaurant um mainly I heard Apple bees out on um out next to movie theater um Easy Street out there by the Walmart and all that stuff okay um did uh did you did he drink a lot or did do you know um I mean I got to be honest I knew that he did drink here and there um and uh I mean I don't know like how regularly he drinked because I mean I didn't even know about that he was drinking that night so there have could have been other times I didn't know he was drinking okay um but from the times that I did know it wasn't I mean it was like here and there like you know once a month maybe once every few months okay um did he ever drink at the on the property of the school that you know of no not that I know of like sneaking in the parking lot or anything like that not that I know of okay um and you indicated you thought he had a guy named name Anthony Smith and I believe that's his last name any any idea who that person might be yeah he goes here there's a kid here named Anthony Smith is he how old is he I believe he's 18 17 18 okay and does he have like a fake ID or something to be able to get alcohol I don't know I really don't know either I I never talked to him because I I I didn't want to talk to him um so I I honestly don't know okay is he on a team or something like that Anthony Smith I mean I don't know how many Anthony Smiths might might be here at school I don't is there some way to figure out who he is if there's more than one uh I mean I can tell you his race and what he looks like sure he's black um I don't can't like describe how he looks but like if you point out sure student here named Anthony Smith about 18 that's a black male yes sir okay and and what's the rumor how what is his deal with Anthony you think uh that like like they just like Asher will go ask him to get something he'll go get something and then like weed or something or no Asher doesn't smoke I know that for sure Asher I know Asher doesn't smoke um but uh mainly alcohol from what heard any idea how anony is able to get it honestly I've never Ted to in my life or I think I may have talked to him one time but that was it does he drive a particular kind of vehicle Anthony or anything it's I'm not going to lie it's just it's a really old car and it sounds like a go-kart um I think it's like a Honda Civic like like a 2000 Honda Civic or something like that U it's sounds like a go-kart if that if that helps you okay okay the last person to be questioned confirmed the previous statements but added more details he knew that Frank had Frank but didn't know how often or where he got the alcohol according to rumors Frank would go to some restaurants or a person named Anthony Smith would get the alcohol for him using a fake ID there was no solid evidence to back up the rumors but they did confirm Frank's troubled relationship with alcohol at such a young age Frank Scutter age 17 was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in vehicular homicide on the day of the accident the teenager was under the influence of alcohol and driving a speed of over 120 mph 30-year-old Spencer Holden and 35-year-old Samantha Holden were the victims of scutters negligence Frank was expected to face Juvenile Detention probation community service therapy or other Rehabilitation measures