A Villager with several drunk driving convictions in New Jersey has been sentenced in connection with a golf cart drunk driving arrest on Easter Sunday at a Winn-Dixie store in The Villages.
Janine Renee Rapka, 45, who lives in the Village of Santo Domingo, has been placed on 24 months probation following a sentencing hearing earlier this month in Lake County Court. She had also served 57 days in jail.
Rapka had been stopped at a stop sign at the store when a man walked in front of Rapka’s golf cart at the Winn-Dixie at La Plaza Grande, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. Rapka yelled profanities at the man and then walked toward his silver Ford and used a key to scratch the right front passenger door, causing about $1,000 in damage. The man’s mother was sitting in the Ford when Rapka keyed the door, prompting the mother to call 911.
A police officer arrived in the parking lot as Rapka was attempting to flee in her golf cart. The police officer used his squad car to block her golf cart and prevent her from leaving.
It appeared Rapka had been drinking. Officers found that she has had multiple convictions for driving under the influence in her native New Jersey and had been arrested for drunk driving in 2023 in The Villages. After the incident here, her driver’s license was permanently revoked.
Rapka refused to participate in field sobriety exercises and repeatedly demanded a lawyer. She provided breath samples that registered .307 and .289 blood alcohol content.
While she was free on bond in the case, she was arrested on another golf cart DUI. That case is still pending in Sumter County Court.