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Florida man pleads guilty to DUI charges after hitting 8 Navy sailors

Eric Watt
Posted at 5:00 AM, Feb 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-20 05:03:57-05

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to a drunken driving crash that injured eight Navy sailors.

News outlets reported this week that 58-year-old Eric Watt has pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury and two counts of DUI damage to property or person. He faces up to five years in prison at his April 30 sentencing.

Authorities say Watt drifted off a Pensacola-area street in April 2017 and hit a group of servicemen from Naval Air Station Pensacola. Six of them were seriously injured.

Several hours after the crash, Watt's blood-alcohol content was recorded at 0.088 percent and 0.093 percent. Florida law considers a driver impaired at 0.08 percent.