AUBURNDALE, Fla. — A drunken driver who left two people with "life-altering" injuries in a crash on Interstate 4 in 2006 and was on the run for years will finally serve time behind bars, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Faisal Javaid was found guilty of two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury on April 5, 2024, after he was accused of crashing into an orange Honda Element in May 2006 in Polk County, according to a news release.
Troopers responded to the scene of a crash on May 20, 2006, at Interstate 4 west of State Road 559 in Polk County and found Javaid's white 2006 Jaguar, split in half, on the north shoulder of the road — not too far from an overturned orange Honda Element.
Two people were entrapped and seriously injured in the Honda before local fire rescue removed them from the upside-down car.
After some investigation, officials determined Javaid tried to switch into another lane when he overcorrected and lost control of the car, sending him over the median and into westbound traffic where he hit the Honda.
That’s when Javaid's car split in half and the Honda flipped onto its roof, officials said.
Troopers said Javaid looked impaired once they saw him, so investigators drew his blood for a toxicology test. The test revealed that Javaid's blood toxicology level was one and a half times over the legal limit.
Javaid was therefore charged with driving under the influence with serious bodily harm and was scheduled to appear for trial in 2008. Troopers later found that Javaid fled the country before his trial date.
Officials secured a warrant for his arrest that year, but it hadn’t been fulfilled for 15 years, the release said.
Troopers arrested Javaid in May 2023 for “failing to appear during his DUI trial” after the State Attorney’s Office told them he returned to the U.S. via Orlando International Airport.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and his sentencing is set for May 15.