A snowbird who attempted to use her underwire bra to try to escape from jail after her arrest on a drunk driving charge has entered pleas in her three criminal cases.
Susan Mae Sheppard, 59, of Massachusetts, through her attorney, entered written pleas of not guilty on Tuesday in Sumter County Court to charges of attempted escape, criminal mischief and driving under the influence. She is being represented by attorney Michael Conageski. The Brooksville attorney is a former prosecutor who specializes in DUI defense. She remains free on $11,500 bond.
Sheppard, who has been staying locally in the Village of Buttonwood, was driving a red Lincoln SUV when she was involved in an accident at about 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at Walgreens on County Road 466, across from Southern Trace Plaza in The Villages, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
It appeared that Sheppard, a native of Keene, N.H. who was driving on a Massachusetts license, had been drinking. She initially agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises, but refused to continue once she had trouble performing the exercises. Her breath sample measured .000 blood alcohol content. She consented to a urine sample. She was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center where she was booked on a DUI charge.
Sheppard was placed in a holding cell, but a jailer discovered that she had “removed the metal wiring from her bra” and used it to make “numerous scrape marks” on the glass on the bottom of the holding cell door. She attempted to crawl out of a small opening in the holding cell door “feet first,” the arrest report said. She had to be told to “pull her legs back into the cell.”