The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
Early in the afternoon on January 6, the authorities received a call from a concerned citizen. The person reported that they saw a woman driving near a Winn-Dixie in Pinellas County in a Hyundai with a flat and damaged front tire.
According to reports, the woman visited a liquor store on the premises, and when she was finished with her purchases she got back into the vehicle. As she started to back out of her parking space, deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office pulled into the parking lot.
A deputy began interacting with her, and they said the woman appeared to be very intoxicated. She reportedly would not give her consent when the deputy wanted her to take a breathalyzer test, and it was deemed that she was too drunk to perform the exercises in a roadside sobriety test. The police arrested her on suspicion of driving under the influence, and she was held overnight on a $500 bond.
Two days later, the woman was driving her vehicle in St. Petersburg when she reportedly plowed into a house. When officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department arrived, they asserted that the driver was intoxicated. Again, she would not consent to a breath test, but this time the woman did a roadside sobriety test.
The police believed the crash was the result of the woman driving under the influence of alcohol, and she was taken into custody. She was booked into the county jail on suspicion of DUI with property damage in lieu of a $$15,000 bail.
The woman has a retained attorney, and she has pleaded not guilty to the initial charge. Currently, it is unclear whether a plea was entered for charges incurred in the second incident.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a DUI offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.