Frank Meyer convicted in July 2022 fatal DUI traffic crash in Floral City

State Attorney's Office, Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit

Citrus County, Florida - On Friday afternoon, May 10, 2024, jurors rendered a guilty verdict in the case against 63 year-old Frank Meyer, of Floral City, Florida, who was accused of taking the life of 35 year-old Jennifer Bossert as the result of a traffic crash that occurred on June 11, 2022. Jurors found Meyer guilty on all three counts he was charged with: driving under the influence (DUI) manslaughter, driving under the influence with serious bodily injury, and driving under the influence with property damage.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Blake Shore and Kevin Davis.

"It is unfortunate to have to suffer the consequences of someone else's actions, but that is exactly what the Bossert family is having to do," said Bill Gladson, State Attorney with Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit. "While this verdict is a step in the right direction for justice, this family will have a much longer path to recovery."

Shortly before 11:00 p.m. on June 11, 2022, Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) troopers responded to a motor vehicle crash that had occurred at 10:40 p.m. on U.S. Highway 41 (South Florida Avenue) in Floral City, Florida, where a Hyundai sedan, driven by (then age 61) Frank Meyer, traveling north on U.S. Highway 41, just south of East Tower Trail, had attempted to turn left into a parking lot and entered into the path of a motorcycle traveling south on U. S. Highway 41, violating its right of way. As a result, the motorcycle collided with the passenger side of the sedan.

The two occupants of the motorcycle were ejected from the motorcycle and seriously injured. The passenger was 35 year-old Jennifer Bossert, and the driver was her husband, then 37 years-old, both of Inverness. The Bosserts were transported to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital (formerly the Ocala Regional Medical Center) in Ocala, Florida for treatment of their injuries.

On Sunday afternoon, June 13, 2022, doctors at the hospital pronounced Jennifer Bossert deceased from injuries she sustained as a result of the traffic crash.

Frank Meyer suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash.

According to a press release by the State Attorney's Office, a witness on scene told law enforcement officers that Meyer had turned directly into the path of the motorcycle. At the time of the crash, the Bosserts were traveling with a group of motorcycle friends, and they had left the Checkers restaurant (510 West Main Street in Inverness, Florida) not long before the crash occurred. Meyer told FHP crash investigators that he was turning into the parking lot of the Liquor Plus store, where he planned to purchase cigarettes, when the crash occurred.

FHP troopers observed signs of impairment and determined that Meyer was under the influence of alcohol. Meyer told troopers that he'd consumed beer at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) earlier in the day. He agreed to perform field sobriety exercises and failed each exercise. He submitted to breathalyzer alcohol testing, which measured his breath alcohol content at 0.275 (more than three times Florida's legal limit of 0.08). Meyer was initially charged with DUI. After Mrs. Bossert's death, his charges escalated to DUI manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Bossert, DUI causing serious bodily injury to Mr. Bossert, and the property damages caused by the crash.