Troopers say accused DUI driver left kids in car after crash

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Kim Montes says Mark Hackstie could've killed his three kids when he drunkenly smashed his minivan into the back of a pickup truck.

“It's just putting your own children at risk,” Montes said, “you're supposed to be their protector, and we're seeing too many parents put those children in harm's way.”

In court, a Volusia County judge read out the long list of charges while Hackstie stood in handcuffs.

“Neglect of a child, three separate children in the car, bond will be set at $2,500 for each of those three counts...” the judge read aloud.

Hackstie left without saying a word - much quieter than when Sgt. Montes said he scuffled with troopers once they'd tracked him down, ten miles from where the crash happened.

“That's when the fight was on,” Montes said, “the trooper fought both Edgewater Police Officers and the Trooper, resisting arrest.”

Montes said troopers say they even had to taze Hackstie to keep him from struggling. “He was handcuffed, arrested - endangering the lives of those children.”

Troopers called the Department of Children & Families to take the kids, but in the end their aunt came to take the children away. This isn't Hackstie's first brush with the law. Just two years ago he was arrested in Deland for domestic battery - and police say kids were also in the house when that happened.