Gainesville man arrested on DUI manslaughter charge after investigation into January 2021 fatal accident

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jason Lee Saul, 38, was arrested yesterday and charged with DUI manslaughter in the death of Andra Paul Driggers after a crash on January 22, 2021.

The victim was driving a pickup truck and was stopped at the red light at NW 43rd Street and U.S. Hwy 441 at about 5:48 p.m. when Saul, who was also driving a pickup truck, allegedly rear-ended the victim’s truck. The victim’s truck then hit an SUV with two occupants. Driggers died following the crash; no information about the SUV’s occupants is provided in the sworn complaint.

A Florida Highway Patrol Trooper reported that Saul’s eyes were glassy and that Saul declined to provide a voluntary blood sample because he didn’t want the results to cause his parole to be violated.

Saul was previously arrested in 2019 for cocaine possession and other drug charges after he acted as a confidential informant for Gainesville Police Department and was subsequently found to have purchased cocaine in a separate transaction. He entered a plea of nolo contendere to the cocaine possession charge in July 2020 in exchange for 18 months of drug offender probation. His probation officer reported in November 2020, two months before the fatal crash, that he was in possession of cocaine, and the probation officer recommended a substance abuse evaluation and any recommended treatment. In October 2021, nine months after the crash, he was again found to be in possession of cocaine and was arrested. In December 2021, his probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to 150 days in jail with credit for 39 days served; he was then approved for work release.

After test results came back from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that showed “the recent ingestion of cocaine” in Saul’s blood sample at the time of the crash, a sworn complaint was filed against Saul in June 2022; formal charges and an arrest warrant were filed on April 4, 2023. The event reconstruction report also found that Saul was driving at least 74 mph in the 50 mph zone just before hitting the victim’s truck.

Saul has four felony convictions and one misdemeanor conviction, all for drugs. The warrant, signed by Judge William Davis, recommends $100,000 bail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.