A Village of McClure woman who admitted to drinking margaritas prior to climbing behind the wheel has been sentenced on a drunk driving charge.
Linda Driver Hamm, 71, who lives at 2400 Kelly Place, earlier this month pleaded no contest to the DUI charge, according to Sumter County Court records. She will lose her driver’s license for six months, has been placed on probation for one year and has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
Hamm had been driving the wrong way shortly before 7 p.m. Jan. 28 in the area of U.S. 301 and Warm Springs Avenue, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She had been driving in “multiple lanes” and nearly struck several other vehicles that were traveling in the opposite direction, the report said.
“The defendant had a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from her mouth area when she was speaking. The defendant’s eyes were watery and red. The defendant had red, splotchy skin on her face. The defendant had slurred speech throughout our encounter,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report.
The Shadydale, Ga. native said she had consumed two margaritas, “somewhere in The Villages,” the report said. She said she was trying to find her way home and did not know where she was.
She struggled through field sobriety exercises and provided breath samples that registered .128 and .133 blood alcohol content.
