A driver classified as a habitual offender was taken into custody at gunpoint after buzzing by a police officer by the side of the road answering an unrelated call for service.
Michael Wade Arnette, 39, of Fruitland Park, was driving a white Toyota Prius at about 10 p.m. Tuesday when he failed to move over for the officer, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
The officer began to pursue the Prius, but the driver continued onward and passed several safe locations where the vehicle could have stopped, the report said. The officer noted the vehicle “was swaying back and forth” and it appeared a man and a woman were swapping places in the vehicle.
When the vehicle finally pulled over, the officer drew his firearm and ordered the vehicle’s occupants to make their hands visible. Arnette was handcuffed and put in the back of the officer’s patrol car.
The officer found that Arnette’s license has been suspended and he has been labeled a habitual offender. He has had 12 convictions for driving while license suspended.
He was arrested on charges of driving while license suspended and resisting arrest. He was booked at the Lake County Jail on $22,000 bond.
