By Lyda Longa
Daytona Beach News Journal Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -December 15, 2006- NASCAR CEO Brian France admitted to officers he had been drinking the night a woman followed him to his condominium after she observed him driving erratically on U.S. 1. But because police never interviewed France until he was inside his residence, they could not arrest him for DUI, an internal affairs investigation released Thursday shows.

Regardless, Police Chief Mike Chitwood said that once his officers knew who was involved in the incident, they went the extra mile to make sure they followed the law and gave France no special treatment.

The investigation also shows that when a sergeant who was called to the scene learned the driver of the car was France, he in turn called a lieutenant. The sergeant then relayed to one of the officers: "We're just here to do our job, OK, we do what we always do under these circumstances."

The chief said officers were somewhat rattled when they learned the incident involved France. France crashed his Lexus sedan into a tree just outside his condominium on Marina Point Drive around 9 p.m., a police report states. When several officers responded to the scene at 9:51 p.m., the man had already gone upstairs to his apartment, Chitwood said. Roughly 20 minutes later, the officers knocked on France's door. France came downstairs with them, dressed in fresh clothes.

''I think that when everyone found out this was Brian France, they knew they had better dot their I's and cross their T's," Chitwood said Thursday.

Nonetheless, a police report prepared on the call witness Shirley Hill made to 911 as she followed France south on U.S.1, east on Orange Avenue then onto Beach Street on Nov. 6, does not mention that France had admitted to having "a few (alcoholic beverages) over at the Chart House" earlier that night.

That detail was not included in the paperwork, Chitwood said, because the officer was investigating a crash, not a DUI.

''That information of course came out in detail in the internal affairs investigation," the chief said. "I believe everything Ms. Hill told us and you can draw your own conclusions from that.

"The bottom line is, he (France) was out of his car, he was inside his apartment and he could have had the alcohol there and hours before. But since we didn't stop him in his car, we can't touch him," Chitwood said.

The matter , however, led to two policy changes within the Daytona Beach Police Department: Whenever there is a DUI incident, the highest-ranking supervisor on the shift will be called to the scene and take control of the investigation; and no officer will report off-duty until all of his or her reports are complete.

The latter stems from the fact that neither Chitwood nor Capt. Matt Doughney knew about the France incident when questioned by a reporter because the report had not been handed in.

Hills, accompanied by a passenger, followed France to the guard shack of his condo while she spoke to the 911 dispatcher and described how the man was driving on curbs, struck a parked car and then scraped a tree. She had no idea the driver she was pursuing was France until a condo security guard told her.

According to the initial crash report, France told officers he was driving and drinking a soda when he "bumped into something." When police checked the inside of his car, they saw evidence of a spilled soft drink and a half-eaten hamburger.

Officers sent to the area where Hill said France had sideswiped a parked car never found evidence of that, the investigation shows.

By the time other officers knocked on France's door to question him based on Hill's statements, he had already been home about 20 minutes, the investigation shows.

One officer who spoke to France, Penny Dane, is experienced in making DUI arrests and administering breathalyzer tests. Dane said that while she did not smell alcohol on France, she said "he did seem fatigued as if he had been drinking and he did openly state to me that he had had a few (alcoholic beverages) over at the Chart House."

The officer who accompanied Dane, however, Stephanie Donald, said she smelled alcohol on France.

But Dane knew her hands were tied, based on what she told internal affairs officials when she was questioned about France: "It would be illegal for me to even arrest and more investigate it, not knowing what he could have done in his condominium for 20 minutes."

Chitwood said investigators called the Chart House and officials at the Marina Pointe condos regarding France, but neither would cooperate with police.

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