A Villager involved in a crash denied she had been drinking.
The accident occurred at about 4 p.m. Thursday at U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and La Plaza Parkway on the Historic Side of The Villages. Lady Lake police received a report that a female driver of a Toyota involved in the accident “was becoming hostile” and appeared to be under the influence. She drove away from the scene of the accident.
An officer spotted the Toyota on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at West Boone Court and during a traffic stop, the driver was identified as 44-year-old Janine Renee Rapka, who lives in the Village of Santo Domingo.
The officer who made the traffic stop could smell alcohol on Rapka’s breath, but the New Jersey native denied she had been drinking. She refused to participate in field sobriety exercises. She provided breath samples that registered .330 and .317 blood alcohol content.
A check revealed her Florida driver’s license had been terminated in 2019.
Rapka was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving while license suspended. She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $1,500 bond.
