A Tesla-driving Villager who was arrested last year while wearing mismatched shoes got a break in his drunk driving case.
James Lew, 72, of the Village of Gilchrist pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving, bargained down from a charge of driving under the influence, this past week in Lake County Court. He was placed on probation for one year and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
He was arrested Sept. 12 after a tipster called law enforcement to report spotting Lew at the ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store in Lady Lake. The caller said Lew “could barely hold the alcohol he was purchasing.” The caller provided a dispatcher with the the license plate number and a description of the Tesla that Lew was driving, which left the liquor store and went through the drive-up at a nearby Arby’s restaurant. The caller noted that Lew had “messy hair” and it looked like he had “slept in his clothing,” the report said.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy spotted Lew’s Tesla on Rolling Acres Road and followed it until initiating a traffic stop at Micro Racetrack Road and County Road 466A after Lew had failed to come to a complete stop at the intersection.
Lew denied he had been drinking. The deputy asked Lew to step out of the vehicle and he noted the New York native “was wearing two different shoes on his feet.” An unopened bottle of alcohol and food from Arby’s were found in the vehicle. Lew struggled through field sobriety exercises. He failed to provide an adequate breath sample because he would not properly blow into the testing device.
