Inset: Corrinne Blue (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office). Background: The aftermath of the crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, that killed three deputies (WTVJ).
A Florida nurse who just finished her 12-hour shift and stopped at McDonald's on the way home before she fatally slammed into three sheriff's deputies on the side of the road may have been suffering from "brain fog" due to the "calorie-dense, high-fat, and high-carbohydrate" meal, authorities say.
Corrinne Blue, 32, faces three counts of vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Palm Beach County Sheriff Corporal Luis Paez, Deputy Ralph "Butch" Waller and Deputy Ignacio "Dan" Diaz.
The devastating crash occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2024, along State Road 80, roughly a half-mile from Lion Country Safari Road in Loxahatchee. A probable cause arrest affidavit stated Diaz was conducting traffic enforcement when his motorcycle stalled.
He requested assistance and Waller and Paez, also on motorcycles, came to his aid on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Blue had just finished her 12-hour shift in the emergency room at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston.
The defendant later told cops that after her McDonald's pit stop, her GPS routed her home a different way than usual. She claimed to have been driving around the 55 mph speed limit and was trying to pass a slower vehicle when she plowed into the trio of deputies. Witnesses and data from her vehicle, however, told a different story, police said.
Fellow motorists said she had been weaving in and out of traffic, according to the affidavit. Video and in-car data indicated she may have been going as fast as 86 mph as she approached the slower car, then entered the shoulder and hit the sitting cops.
Cops determined she was not texting or speaking on the phone at the time of the crash. They did note that she appeared to be "extremely tired." By her own admission, she had been awake roughly 18 of the previous 24 hours, police said. Experts told detectives that she did not have the requisite amount of sleep to be an aware driver, per the affidavit.
Then there's the aforementioned McDonald's meal.
"The opinion of a human factors expert … indicated that it is possible that the calorie-dense, high-fat, and high-carbohydrate content of the food purchased by Ms. Blue induced a state of postprandial fatigue, characterized by cognitive impairment or 'brain fog,' as Ms. Blue approached the crash scene," the affidavit stated.
This, along with her fatigue and high speeds, indicates Blue was driving in a "reckless manner with willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others and in a manner that she knew, or should have known, was likely to cause the death or great bodily harm of others," cops concluded.
Cops arrested Blue on Friday and took her to the Palm Beach County Jail, where she remains on a $250,000 bond. Her next court date is set for June 25.
In a statement, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Blue's arrest represented an "important step in the judicial process."
"While no legal outcome can ever replace the lives lost or ease the pain felt by their families, loved ones, and our agency, we remain committed to seeing this case through the justice system," he said. "This tragedy serves as a reminder of the very real and deadly consequences of distracted driving. We urge every driver to remain focused behind the wheel because one moment of inattention can change lives forever."
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