A visitor to The Villages was arrested after fleeing the scene of a crash in a golf cart.
Rita Marie Peck, 58, of Wilmington, N.C., had been traveling with a male companion in a golf cart when they were involved in an accident with an automobile at about 9 p.m. Monday at Paige Place south of Avenida Central in the Spanish Springs area, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. Peck “fumbled” through her wallet when she attempted to present the investigating officer with her North Carolina driver’s license.
The officer had instructed Peck to remain in the golf cart while collecting information from both drivers. The officer was in a patrol car when Peck was having trouble unzipping the door flap of the golf cart. She appeared to be unsteady due to intoxication. She drove away in the golf cart while the investigation into the accident was still in progress.
The officer activated the lights and siren of the patrol car in an attempt to pull over Peck’s golf cart. She kept going until she reached the Comfort Suites hotel where she finally stopped. She resisted the efforts of officers who attempted to take her into custody. She was forced to sit on the grass by an officer and then shifted into a prone position. She was placed in handcuffs, but continued to struggle, kicking an officer in the shin. She was put into a patrol car where she continued kicking, causing damage to the interior of the vehicle. She was placed in a four-point restraint.
Peck screamed and behaved in a belligerent manner during the trip to the Lake County Jail.
She refused to submit to field sobriety exercises and refused to provide a breath sample.
She was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $9,500 bond.
