A Villages couple has been sentenced in a case in which their vehicle crashed into multiple golf carts after they had been drinking at a restaurant at town square.
Laura Pamela Salter, 71, who lives at 2577 Privada Drive in the Village of Alhambra, was at the wheel of a black 2018 Nissan SUV in February when she crashed into three golf carts, pushing them from their parking spaces on Lakeshore Drive at Lake Sumter Landing. She put the SUV in reverse and sideswiped three more golf carts, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies attempted to speak to the Moultrie, Ga. native, she had to lean on the SUV to maintain her balance. It appeared she was “highly intoxicated.” She struggled through field sobriety exercises and provided breath samples that registered .178 and .160 blood alcohol content.
During the DUI investigation, Salter’s live-in boyfriend, 77-year-old Larry Pogue, attempted to persuade the deputies not to be “hard asses.” Pogue identified himself as a “veteran” who “has killed many people.” He said he believed the deputies had a certain amount of “discretion” and could use it to let Salter go. When deputies were not receptive to the idea, Pogue insulted a female deputy at the scene and asked, “Doesn’t the sheriff’s office have a weight limit policy?” When deputies attempted to take Pogue into custody, he struggled with them and pulled away.
Last month in Sumter County Court, Salter pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence. She has lost her driver’s license for six months and has been placed on probation for one year. Pogue pleaded no contest to a charge of resisting arrest. He was placed on probation for six months and was ordered to perform 15 hours of community.
In 2010, Pogue was arrested on charges of disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest after getting “verbally aggressive” toward employees at McCall’s Tavern at Spanish Springs Town Square. He had been arrested in 2015 after he allegedly punched a man and insulted a supporter of the LGBT community who he accused of taking his seat near the gazebo at Spanish Springs Town Square. Pogue had been arrested earlier in 2015 on a charge of disorderly intoxication at American Legion Post 347.
