Staff Reports
Greg Turbeville, a senior vice president for top Florida and federal lobbyist Brian Ballard‘s firm, was arrested and charged shortly after midnight Wednesday with driving drunk and hit-and-run for crashing his BMW into a parked car in Tallahassee’s Old Town neighborhood.
Turbeville, 48, also was charged with refusing to take a DUI test, according to Leon County court records. He was released from the Leon County Jail on $2,250 bail and not immediately available for comment, nor was Ballard. He has not yet entered any plea, court records show.
Turbeville also was charged with DUI and property damage for an April 2015 crash at Magnolia Drive and Park Avenue in Tallahassee, records show. His sentence included a six-month driver’s license suspension and 100 hours of community service.
He later was charged with violating probation when he allegedly misrepresented the hours he worked at a local Goodwill store and forged the store supervisor’s signature on his time sheet, according to court records. He admitted the violation and was found guilty, extending his probation another six months.
Early Wednesday, after neighbors reported the crash, a Tallahassee police officer found Turbeville sitting in a Hillcrest Street resident’s front yard, saying that he “seemed to be hiding in the shadows,” a police report said.
The officer “detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and his speech was slurred,” the report said. “His eyes appeared bloodshot, watery, and glassy … a cell phone in his hand appeared powered on.
“… When officers attempted to stand the defendant up, he was unsteady on his feet and swaying front to back,” the report said. “… While standing with the defendant, an Uber driver showed up … (who) advised (that Turbeville) was a ‘regular’ customer of his and was surprised that he was driving.”
Police later determined he had summoned an Uber ride “to take him the few remaining blocks to his house.”
After he was given a Miranda warning, Turbeville “refused to speak” to officers, refused to perform field sobriety tests, refused a breath test, was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital “and was quickly medically cleared for the jail,” the report said.
Court records show his first case management hearing is set for 2:30 p.m. on April 17 before Leon County Judge Monique Richardson. He has not yet retained an attorney.
According to his online bio, Turbeville – now with Ballard Partners in Tallahassee – was policy director for Gov. Jeb Bush and “oversaw the development, analysis and implementation of all legislative and policy initiatives.”
Before that, he was chief of staff to then-House Speaker John Thrasher and was a staff director for the House of Representatives, “managing and crafting tax and appropriations legislation.”
He also was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, “which made recommendations for revisions to Florida’s Constitution.”
