A judge has ordered a competency evaluation for a Villager who crashed into multiple golf carts on New Year’s Eve at Brownwood Paddock Square.
Judge Paul Militello has ordered evaluation for 80-year-old John Paul Toupin of the Village of LaBelle North. The evaluation will be undertaken by Steven O’Neal Phd of Tampa. The evaluation will take place this week, according to documents on file in Sumter County Court.
Wildwood police were called on New Year’s Eve to the parking lot behind Dunkin’ Donuts at Brownwood Paddock Square to investigate a crash in which a vehicle “struck multiple golf carts.”
A witness pointed officers toward Toupin who had been driving the gray GMC sport utility vehicle which had caused the crash, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. Toupin immediately admitted he’d “drank too much.”
He indicated he put the SUV in “drive” rather than “reverse” and struck a parked golf cart, pushing it into another parked golf cart. A third golf cart had been involved, but the golf cart was driven from the scene before police arrived.
Toupin was transported by ambulance to the UF Health-The Villages Hospital freestanding Emergency Room at Brownwood for a medical evaluation. Once cleared, he was asked to participate in field sobriety exercises. The report indicate he performed poorly in the exercises. He provided breath samples that registered .107 and .108 blood alcohol content.
Toupin was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. He remains free on bond.
