A Properties of The Villages sales agent with family ties to the Morse clan is facing a drunk driving charge.
Daniel Justin Wilson, 42, who lives on Sunset Harbor Road in Summerfield, is due for a plea negotiation conference Nov. 19 in Lake County Court on a charge of driving under the influence, elevated by the fact two children were in the vehicle at the time of his arrest.
Wilson, son of Renee Morse who is the widow of the late Gary Morse, has pleaded not guilty in the case and is being represented by attorney Benjamin Boylston.
Wilson had been traveling above the speed limit at 11:34 p.m. Oct. 4 when a Fruitland Park police officer conducted a traffic stop just north of Leisure Living in the vicinity of Eagles Nest Road and State Road 25.
“While asking for his registration and insurance, I could smell a odor of alcohol emitting from his breath, his speech was delayed and eyes were bloodshot,” the officer wrote in the arrest report.
The officer asked Wilson if he had been drinking and Wilson said he had not.
The officer printed out a speeding citation and when he returned to Wilson’s vehicle, he asked Wilson to step out of the vehicle. Wilson declined “stating not with his kids present,” the report said. A backup officer arrived on the scene and Wilson was asked a second time to step out of the vehicle. This time he did so.
Wilson “swayed” during a standard field sobriety test. He refused to submit to a breath test or blood draw.
A female passenger in the car was “also intoxicated and unable to drive,” the report said.
Wilson’s 10-year-old son was in the car along with a 10-year-old friend.
Wilson was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.
Wilson has worked as a sales agent at Properties of The Villages for more than a dozen years. He also worked briefly for The Villages Media Group.
Wilson has been recognized for “sales excellence” and has been named “representative of the month” several times, according to his biography on the Properties of The Villages website.
