A woman blamed her “new medication” in a drunk driving arrest Sunday afternoon at ALDI at Trailwinds Plaza in Wildwood.
Rachel Kay Paquette, 48, was driving a silver 2017 Chevy Equinox SUV when an off-duty Sumter County sheriff’s deputy reported seeing the vehicle driving “all over the roadway,” according to an arrest report. The vehicle eventually turned into the ABC liquor store at Trailwinds Plaza before making its way to the nearby ALDI.
Paquette said she was taking new medication and admitted she “shouldn’t have been driving,” the report said. She said she takes medication for her “liver, hormones and stress.”
A deputy detected the “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” coming from Paquette’s vehicle. She also volunteered she was headed to work at ALDI when she left her home.
She said she had consumed two vodka and Gatorades the previous night.
The Michigan native “stumbled backwards” several times during field sobriety exercises. She provided breath samples that measured .296 and .321 blood alcohol content. She was taken to the UF Health-The Villages Hospital freestanding Emergency Room at Brownwood due to “alcohol intoxication.” She was then taken to the Sumter County Detention Center where she was booked on a charge of driving under the influence. She was released after posting $1,000 bond.
