Judge rejects hairdresser’s objection to traffic stop leading to DUI arrest

A judge has rejected a hairdresser’s objection to a traffic stop which led to her arrest on a drunk driving charge.

Aimee Pauline Kidd, 40, of Lady Lake, is facing two charges of driving under the influence.

The first arrest occurred Nov. 16 on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 in Lady Lake. The second DUI arrest took place at 9:45 a.m. Feb. 4 when she pulled into the parking lot of Publix at Southern Trace Plaza in The Villages. At the time, she was working at Salon Jaylee at Southern Trace. In both arrests, she refused to submit to a breath test.

Her attorney had filed a motion claiming law enforcement had no basis for suspecting she was driving drunk in a construction zone in the first arrest.

However, Judge Sarah Jones reviewed the evidence and ruled that a deputy saw Kidd as she failed to maintain her lane and almost hit another vehicle traveling in a lane next to her, “thereby creating a danger,” according to a document in Lake County Court.

Jones wrote that, “It is well settled that law enforcement may stop and detain vehicles on the public roadways if there is reasonable articulable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is about to occur.”

Kidd remains free on bond after the pair of DUI arrests, but must wear a monitor that measures her blood alcohol level by sampling her perspiration every 30 minutes.

She was convicted of DUI in 2019 in Wyoming, where she was a beauty pageant contender.