A drunk driving suspect with Corona beer bottles in his vehicle was arrested after speeding down U.S. Hwy. 27/441.
A police officer was in the parking lot of Applebee’s restaurant on Bichara Boulevard in The Villages at 1:45 a.m. Sunday when he used radar to catch a vehicle traveling at 60 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The vehicle accelerated to 70 mph and ran a red light in the vicinity of Fennell Boulevard. It went onto to swerve over a center divider in the highway as it passed other vehicles.
During a traffic stop, the driver was identified as 28-year-old Nidal Mohamed of Lady Lake. It appeared he had been drinking and two half-empty bottles of Corona beer as well as a can of beer were spotted in the vehicle. He did not have a driver’s license and it appeared that he was never issued a driver’ license in the United States.
A Spanish-speaking officer had to assist in field sobriety exercises, in which Mohamed performed poorly. The native of Venezuela provided breath samples that registered .084 and .080 blood alcohol content.
He was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $1,500 bond.
