An 80-year-old Villager will lose his driver’s license after crashing into golf carts with his sport utility vehicle on New Year’s Eve at Brownwood.
John Paul Toupin of the Village of LaBelle North pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence this past week in Sumter County Court.
He will lose his driver’s license for six months, has been placed on probation for one year and has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
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.
