A Villager will lose his driver’s license after drinking at Lake Sumter Landing and then leaving in a golf cart.
Brett William Garcia, 51, of the Carlton Villas in the Village of Sabal Chase, pleaded no contest this past week in Sumter County Court to a charge of driving under the influence. He will lose his driver’s license for six months, has been placed on probation for one year and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
Gray was spotted at about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in a gray Yamaha golf cart which “appeared to have driven off Buena Vista Boulevard onto the elevated grassy shoulder,” according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy approached Garcia who was “slurring his words” and claimed he was trying to get to Inverness. The deputy thought it was odd as the Sacramento, Calif. native was “nowhere near Inverness” and in a golf cart, the report noted.
Garcia said he had been at Lake Sumter Landing. When he was asked for his identification, he handed the deputy his Villages ID. Upon another request for his identification, Garcia handed the deputy a credit card.
Garcia said he’d played golf in the morning and consumed three Coors Light beers. He said he had four more beers in the afternoon. A bottle containing beer was found found in the golf cart. There were also four empty Flash Point cinnamon bottles that showed that each bottle had a 21 percent alcohol concentration. Garcia struggled through field sobriety exercises. He provided breath samples that registered .242 and .222 blood alcohol content.