The driver of a speeding red Corvette was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana and cocaine in Ocala on Sunday evening.
At around 8 p.m., Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a driver who advised she was following a red Corvette that was unable to maintain its lane eastbound on SW State Road 200, stating that the driver of the Corvette was “reckless,” according to an arrest report. The woman who had called MCSO continued to observe the Corvette and stated it was headed toward SW 60th Avenue then turned north on SW 60th Avenue, speeding and driving all over the road. Around this time of the call, a deputy in the area was traveling southbound on SW 60th Avenue and observed a red Chevy Corvette traveling northbound on SW 60th Avenue at a high rate of speed.
The deputy activated his in-car moving radar and captured the Corvette’s speed at 75 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. The deputy turned around and went to catch up to the Corvette that was observed to be driving erratically. The deputy activated his emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, in which the Corvette hit the right curb and had a slow reaction to the deputy’s emergency lights. The deputy made contact with the driver, 54-year-old David Alexander Whitlow of Ocala, who stated “I don’t have one,” as soon as the deputy walked up to the Corvette. When the deputy asked Whitlow what he didn’t have, Whitlow said “a driver’s license.” The deputy stated that the driver was going 100 mph and appeared to be under the influence.
Another deputy responded to the location and made contact with Whitlow, observing Whitlow to be sweating profusely. When Whitlow was asked to step out of the vehicle, he asked the deputy if he “could call bail bonds” and kept moving around. As the deputy was speaking to Whitlow, the deputy observed Whitlow’s eyes to be bloodshot and watery, and his pupils were pinpoint. The deputy asked Whitlow if he had been using any drugs, in which Whitlow said he hadn’t been drinking but takes percocet and zoloft and took his last percocet a “couple hours ago.” The deputy then asked if Whitlow had used any illegal drugs recently, in which Whitlow stated he recently used heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
After failing sobriety tests, Whitlow was placed under arrest. As the deputy was walking him to the patrol car, the other deputy observed a small baggie fall from inside Whitlow’s shorts. When the deputy picked up the baggie, he observed a small amount of green leafy substance and few small white rock-like pieces, which both tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
A review of Whitlow’s driver’s license showed it was suspended in May of this year and that the tag on the Corvette did not belong on the vehicle. Whitlow stated he placed the tag on the vehicle because “the cops took his tag the last time he was stopped for driving on a suspended license.” Whitlow was also convicted of driving while license suspended last month in Marion County.
Whitlow was transported to the Marion County Jail, where it was discovered that he had a glass pipe in his clothing, which he admitted to it being a crack pipe. Bond was set at $9,000.
