Florida teen loses license after doing 'burnouts' on LGBTQ 'Pride' crosswalk

A Florida judge has sentenced a teen to two years of probation for vandalizing an LGBTQ crosswalk in Delray Beach and took away his driver’s license. Dylan Brewer, 19, of Clearwater, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of reckless driving and criminal mischief. He was accused of intentionally damaging a rainbow-colored mural after doing burnouts, court documents show.

Palm Beach County Judge Daliah Weiss also revoked his driver's license for one year, ordered him to pay a $5,568.71 fine to Delray Beach, perform a total of 150 hours of community service, and complete eight hours of anger management classes, per the Palm Beach Post.

During sentencing, Judge Weiss asked Brewer to explain his understanding of the seriousness of this case. The teen offered an apology.

"It was not my intention to cause any harm outside of having some fun with friends," Brewer told the judge. "I do realize now the harm that was caused afterwards towards the community, and I'm very sorry for my actions and putting my family and the court through this."

Rand Hoch, founder of Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, one of two groups that paid for the $17,000 LGBTQ+ mural, spoke before the Court Wednesday, expressing his discontent with the plea deal provided to Brewer. He later released a statement saying, "Brewer's light sentence will do little to deter other anti-LGBTQ+ hatemongers from attacking our community in the future."

On February 4, 2024, Delray Beach Police alleged Brewer used his Dodge Ram pickup truck to perform multiple "burnouts" at the rainbow-colored crosswalk at Northeast First Street and Northeast Second Avenue. 

Court documents show damage left behind from burnouts. 


Hoch told Judge Weiss that Brewer had "committed a crime against our community, the LGBTQ community."

"He went through the intersection not once, not twice, but three times in a retrofitted vehicle that caused great damage to our community," Hoch said, adding, "We now feel threatened when we are in Delray Beach, which is sad because it's a very open community."

The street art was funded by the Human Rights Council and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. In addition to the traditional rainbow colors for gay, lesbian, and bisexual pride, the painting also includes pink, white, and blue for trans-identifying individuals and black and brown for people of color.

Brewer expressed further regret before the judge handed down his sentence, saying, "Me going over (the intersection) multiple times has brought a lot of setback, if you would say, towards their community and I'm deeply sorry for any harm that I have caused."