An intoxicated Villager was arrested after allegedly keying a woman’s car at Bonefish Grill.
Carl Rittenhouse, 73, of the Village of Tall Trees, was driving a silver Chevrolet Crossfire on Monday night when he pulled into a handicapped space at the restaurant and got out of his car, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy watched as Rittenhouse keyed a blue Hyundai Sonata. The deputy approached Rittenhouse and asked why he had keyed the woman’s car. Rittenhouse responded he was “mad at her.”
It appeared Rittenhouse had been drinking and he failed field sobriety exercises. A receipt was found in his pocket, showing he had purchased three Tito’s Handmade Vodkas with ice earlier that evening.
Rittenhouse began suffering chest pains and had trouble breathing. He was transported by ambulance to The Villages Regional Hospital. He later signed himself out of the hospital. He provided breath samples that registered .148 and .144 blood alcohol content.
Rittenhouse has been previously convicted of drunk driving, twice in 2007 and once in 2011.
In 2016, Rittenhouse was convicted of terrorizing his on-again off-again girlfriend, a Villages resident who was battling cancer. He punched her and stole her hairpiece in one incident and in another incident stole her hairpiece from her car while it was parked at the Waterfront Inn. She had sought an order of protection.
Rittenhouse had been arrested in April 2014 on a charge of battery after an altercation with the same woman in the Village of Tall Trees. He was placed on one year’s probation, but Rittenhouse’s attorney was able to persuade the judge to terminate the probation early. It was terminated on Jan. 27, 2015.
In December 2014, he was cited for parking in a handicapped spot. He was fined $186.
After Monday’s arrest on charges of driving under the influence and criminal mischief, he was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $6,000 bond.
