Repeat impaired driver charged in near-fatal crash Sunday night

Every day, an average of 28 people in the U.S. are killed in a crash involving a drunken driver. That’s one person every 52 minutes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Jimmy Alan Brooks, 27

Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday in Tuscaloosa, someone nearly became part of that statistic. Instead, they’re recovering at DCH Regional Medical Center while 27-year-old Jimmy Alan Brooks is facing assault and driving under the influence charges, along with a charge of failure to comply with ignition interlock device requirements.

Ignition interlock devices prohibit drivers from operating a car while intoxicated and usually require the driver to blow into the device for a sobriety check before and sometimes during their drives.

Brooks has two previous DUI convictions, one in 2016 and one in 2019.

At the time of the wreck, he was driving north on Lurleen Wallace Boulevard when he struck the side of a sedan traveling east on University Boulevard.

Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb said he can’t speak specifically about Brooks’ most recent charge, but did say driving under the influence of any drug is asking for a similar outcome.

“The problem with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is that it’s impairing,” Webb said. “There’s a range of punishment that fits the crime depending on the level of the injuries that are suffered and the level of impairment.”

Criminally negligent homicide is a Class-C felony. Charges start there, but manslaughter and murder charges are also possible if the incident is particularly heinous, Webb said.

“If you have a serious physical injury but no death to another driver or passenger, then you could have an assault in the first degree, which is a Class B felony,” Webb said.

Cases like this aren’t rare, Webb said, and that’s immensely frustrating when you consider ride-sharing services are at most people’s fingertips these days.

“It’s terrible because every time they take a drink or every time they take a pill, they’re choosing to put themselves on the road after they’ve done that,” Webb said.

If you see someone who’s impaired head to their car, stopping them can save lives.

“It is absolutely vital that we all step in and try to prevent impaired people from getting on the roads and endangering everyone,” Webb said.

Brooks was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $45,000.00 bond, which he had posted as of Monday afternoon.