WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Mitchell Geltz of Winter Garden enters plea in death of his mother from August 2022 incident a local bar.
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Geltz pleaded guilty to DUI charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail for driving his truck drunk, with credit for time served.
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He will also serve a year of probation, suspend his driver’s license, take classes, and pay a fine.
Officers believe Mitchell Geltz ran over his mother, Sara, with his pickup truck after visiting Hagan O’Reilly’s Irish Pub after his mother tried to stop him from driving home.
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Body camera video from that night showed a distraught Geltz repeatedly telling officers what happened was an accident and he didn’t break any laws.
According to investigative reports, he told officers he drank one beer inside the pub.
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A receipt from the pub showed officers Geltz bought 16 drinks that night, though he didn’t necessarily consume all of them. While he refused a breathalyzer on-scene, a test hours later recorded his BAC at more than three times the legal limit, officers said. They did not arrest him immediately after the test results came back.
Officers recommended that prosecutors charge Geltz with DUI manslaughter, citing witness reports that put him behind the wheel of his truck as it ran his mother over. However, court records show prosecutors decided to only charge him with DUI – a traffic violation – 10 months after the incident.
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Geltz was also arrested for DUI in 2019, though the charges were later dismissed. Body camera video from that incident showed police found him passed out behind the wheel while parked in someone’s lawn. It also showed him threatening the officer who arrested him.
The elder Geltz was both a mother and a grandmother. After her death, neighbors described her as very nice and an active member of her local church.
His family and attorneys have repeatedly denied our requests for comment about the case.
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