The son of a couple in The Villages has been arrested on a drunk driving charge as he was heading home from a Tinder date.
Alexander Bartell, 32, who lives with his parents at 3031 Hicks Place in the Village of Fenney, was at the wheel of a black 2014 Dodge Ram pickup at 2:35 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 301 at Oxford when a 911 caller reported his erratic driving behavior, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy initiated a traffic stop and found that the Utica, N.Y. native was “thick tongued” and his movements were “very slow and lethargic.” Bartell said he was returning from Ocala where he had been on a date set up through the popular dating application and was headed home, the report said. He said he had consumed two Mike’s Hard Lemonade drinks.
He indicated that he has prescriptions for Adderall, Ativan and medical marijuana. Alcohol containers, a vape pen, two syringes and a glass bottle labeled “Testosterone Sustanon 250 mg” were found in the pickup.
He struggled through field sobriety exercises and provided breath samples that measured .028 and .029 blood alcohol content. He also provided a urine sample. He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.
Earlier this year, Bartell had been placed on probation for three years after pleading no contest to charges of grand theft and burglary in Sumter County Court. Bartell was arrested April 17 at his parents’ home in connection with the alleged burglary of a local storage unit.
While he was free on bond in that case, the Bartell was arrested after defying an injunction for protection against domestic violence which had been obtained by a woman in Maricopa County, Arizona. The woman, who has a child with Bartell, told Sumter County sheriff’s deputies she and the child had been staying with Bartell “as a family unit in violation of the court order” for about a month, the arrest report said. However, she showed deputies items of her clothing and the child’s clothing with “cut marks” caused by Bartell. She also showed them text messages Bartell had sent to her. He served 13 days in jail after that arrest. He was sentenced to time served after pleading no contest to a charge of violating a court order.
Due to the probation violation, Bartell was booked without bond after Sunday’s arrest at the Sumter County Detention Center.
