A speeding Summerfield man who drove the wrong way on three streets while being pursued by law enforcement found himself behind bars early Sunday morning after zipping past a Marion County sheriff’s deputy who was conducting a traffic stop.
The deputy reported seeing a white Honda Civic traveling north in the area of the 1900 block of S. Pine Avenue with its “modified exhaust revving.” The deputy then saw the Honda “accelerate rapidly” and estimated the vehicle’s speed to be 70 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone.
A K-9 corporal at the same traffic stop pursued the Honda, which was being driven by 21-year-old Mark Anthony Vega. He attempted to stop the vehicle in the 100 block of W. Hwy. 40 but it continued on and traveled the wrong direction on N.W. 1st Avenue, Broadway Street and N. Magnolia Avenue, a sheriff’s office report states.
The Honda eventually stopped in a parking lot on N.W. 1st Avenue in Ocala. The corporal made contact with Vega and reported that he was slurring his words and had glassy eyes. The deputy from the other traffic stop then responded to the scene to conduct an investigation for possible driving under the influence, the report says.
The deputy reported the Vega had watery eyes and he smelled the odor of an “intoxicating beverage” emitting from his breath as he spoke. He invited Vega to participate in field sobriety exercises, which he agreed to do.
Vega failed all five exercises, including being unable to recite the alphabet. He was placed under arrest and provided breath samples that showed blood-alcohol levels of .127 and .126, the report says.
Vega, who lives in the 14000 block of S.E. 63rd Terrace in Summerfield, was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was released late Sunday afternoon on $1,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.