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BY STEPHEN THOMPSON
of The Tampa Tribune
DUNEDIN - A 17-year-old Belleair Beach teenager was arrested today on charges he was drunk when his truck struck a van in November, and the 74-year-old driver of the van died, authorities said.
Jesse Lee Chitren, of 2801 Hibiscus Drive West, was charged with one count of driving-under-the-influence—manslaughter, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
On Nov. 25, at 2:30 p.m., Chitren’s truck collided with a van driven by Christos Neofotistos, of 3152 Carlos Drive, Dunedin. Neofotistos was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from his van, the sheriff’s office said. He died five days later.
At the time of the wreck, Neofotistos was making a left turn from Belcher Road onto Solon Avenue when his van was struck by Chitren’s truck, the office said.
Traffic homicide investigators determined Chitren was at fault, the sheriff’s office said. He was speeding and had run a red light, it said.
Furthermore, Chitren’s blood-alcohol percent was .129, it said; the level at which a driver is presumed drunk in Florida is .08 percent.
Chitren has been charged as an adult.
Mr. Cassidy,
Sadly, it appears the victim was held responsible for not wearing his seat belt. Let’s not rehash for the family and friends his ultimate responsibility.
Irene- My heart goes out to you and your family. This young man driving drunk and you say he is bragging about this on the web???? I think whatever he has written should be brought into the courts as to show people what type of person he is. The seatbelt is not an issue here period!!! This is about a young man who drove drunk. He should not even have been drinking, never mind getting behind a wheel of a car. Man I still can’t believe he has written (bragged) about this on line.!!! Irene make sure you print this out. Again, My heart goes out for you and family.
It is never okay to drive after you’ve been drinking and that wasn’t the point of my post. It is however a fact that seatbelts do save lives and odds are that Christos might very well have survived the collision had he been wearing his, and the defense attorney will likely use this fact to mitigate his clients guilt to the jury.
I can’t believe how some of you are asking why this man didn’t have his sealbelt on, yes it may have saved his life. But the most important issue is what on earth was a 17 year old kid doing driving behind the wheel of a vehicle while he was DRUNK!!!! No seatbelt would have saved anyone…sorry for loss of your Father…I just wonder how much more damage this kid would have done had he kept driving drunk…he could have plowed through a shopping center, a school it’s sad enough he ruined one family, but he brought it on himslef when he chose to drink and drive under the law you can’t even drink till age 21…so he was the real scwer up here nobody but the young punk thinking it’ okay to drink under age and drive.
My condolences to the Neofotistos family. I am certain Christos was loved and will be missed by many. As someone has already pointed out in another post, it is Florida state law that all drivers wear their seat belts. While that doesn’t negate the guilt of Jesse Chitren, you should be prepared for his attorney using that as a bargaining chip to negotiate him a better deal when it comes time for him to pay for his culpability in the crash.
My prayers and thoughts go out to both families. Two lives will ultimately be lost in a senseless tragedy.
why wasn’t your father wearing a seat belt as is required. I agree, the teen needs punishment for being drunk, that is not right,
but your father should be held responsible for not wearing his seat belt. And if the teen is bragging, he will get his. Understand that.
I am sorry for your loss. God Bless you and your family.
I am the daughter of Christos Neofotistos. Thank you for posting the updated story of this accident. When the accident was first reported in November, little mention was made that alcohol was involved. The drunk driver who killed my father has been home for the last three months recovering. Unfortunately, my father was not as lucky. My father fought for his life for five horrifying days in the hospital. Due to Mr. Chitren’s irresponsible, selfish choice to “get drunk” on a Saturday afternoon, my sisters and I lost our father and my mother lost her husband of forty-six years.
Please be aware that Mr. Chitren has been boasting about his “little accident” on his myspace page. He has not uttered one mention of remorse for killing a man. My family and I hope that justice will indeed prevail in the upcoming months.
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Posted by John Pappas, tampa on 03/05 at 08:47 PM
My dear friend Chris was only one block away from his home and his family. His grandchildren were waiting for him to come home so that they could play together in the yard…he never made it home.