A Summerfield man was jailed early Sunday morning after he was found by firefighters passed out in his vehicle.
When a Marion County sheriff’s deputy arrived at the intersection of 142nd Place and S.E. 91st Terrace, firefighters had removed 44-year-old Shannon Dean Williams from his vehicle after he failed to respond to them pounding on his windows. A firefighter told the deputy that when Williams finally woke up, he placed his foot on the gas pedal, causing the engine to rev, a sheriff’s office report states.
The firefighter said he smelled an alcoholic beverage emitting from the vehicle and located a Busch Light can in the driver’s side door, as well as a Bud Light Seltzer can. The firefighter told Williams he was placing him under citizens arrest, the report states.
The deputy opened a DUI investigation and spoke with Williams, who said he didn’t know where he was or why law enforcement and firefighters were at the location. The deputy asked Williams to participate in field sobriety exercises and he said he had several medical conditions such as memory loss and trouble balancing. He also said he had been at a bar in Ocala on Saturday and had about four beers at 8 p.m. and he didn’t remember what happened after that, the report says.
After struggling through five exercises, Williams was placed under arrest and provided breath samples that showed .152 and .143 blood-alcohol content. On the way to the Marion County Jail, Williams said multiple times that he had alcohol at the bar “but thought he was OK to drive and was confused about the night because he didn’t remember going home,” the report says.
Williams, who lives at 9259 S.E. 142nd Ln. in Summerfield, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was released Sunday night on $1,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.