A Village of De Soto woman has entered a plea to a driving under the influence charge tied to her crashing a brand new Fuzzy’s Vodka golf cart.
Danette Marie Skutak, 59, was arrested Dec. 4 after wrecking the specially tricked out golf cart at the intersection of Fudge Terrace and Caulk Court.
Last week in Sumter County Court, she entered a plea of not guilty to the DUI charge. She is set for arraignment on Jan. 4 and has retained the legal services of attorney Travis Stulz. She remains free on $1,000 bond.
When officers arrived on the scene of the crash, they found the overturned white Fuzzy’s Vodka golf cart which was equipped with oversized tires, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Skutak “had troubling standing upright and was leaning on the roof of the golf cart,” the report said. She said she’d “hit the curb and flipped the golf cart.” A passenger in the golf cart identified Skutak as the driver and said that Skutak had been drinking prior to the crash. One passenger was taken by ambulance to Ocala Regional Medical Center. Another sought treatment at the UF Health The Villages Hospital Freestanding ER at Brownwood.
Skutak admitted she had consumed four vodkas. She had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and “staggered around and nearly fell when she was walking,” the report said.
Police attempted to evaluate Skutak’s condition by having her participate in field sobriety exercises, but the exercises were halted after she nearly fell over. Officers were afraid she would be harmed if the exercises continued. She provided two breath samples, both measuring .203 blood alcohol content.
Her husband, Rick Skutak, was surprised during a driveway party earlier that evening when a representative of Fuzzy’s Vodka rolled up in the decked-out Fuzzy’s Vodka golf cart. He announced that Skutak was the winner of the golf cart from a field of more than 11,000 entrants.
Skutak climbed aboard the golf cart and was soon joined by his wife. The happy couple hoisted what appeared to be Fuzzy’s Vodka cocktails, much to the delight of their neighbors.
The Fuzzy’s Vodka representative pointed out that the golf cart was set up for “off roading.”
