A retired New York police detective has been sentenced in a golf cart drunk driving arrest earlier this year in The Villages.
Timothy Charles Fennelly, 76, of Aquebogue, N.Y., was sentenced this past week in Sumter County Court after pleading no contest to a charge of driving under the influence. He has been placed on probation for one year, will lose his driver’s license for six months and has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
Fennelly was at the wheel of a black EZ-GO golf cart shortly before 4 p.m. Jan. 24 traveling on Warm Springs Avenue near the Everglades Recreation Center, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Golf carts are not allowed on that roadway. His golf cart had backed up the right lane of traffic.
Fennelly, who was identified by his New York driver’s license, “appeared intoxicated” and “stumbled out of the golf cart,” the report said. During the traffic stop, Fennelly handed a deputy documents that indicated he is a retired New York police detective.
Fennelly said he had been at Brownwood and must have made a wrong turn. He said he’d been golfing before stopping in Brownwood where he had three whiskey drinks. During field sobriety exercises, a deputy observed “multiple indicators of impairment.” Fennelly provided breath samples that registered .111 and .101 blood alcohol content.
