A resident of The Villages will lose his driver’s license after a golf cart drunk driving arrest during a traffic stop near Cody’s Original Roadhouse.
Christopher Joseph Vanwetering, 40, who lives in the Cherry Vale Villas, pleaded no contest this past week in Sumter County Court to a charge of driving under the influence. In addition to the loss of his license for six months, he has been placed on probation for one year and has been ordered to perform 80 hours of community serivce.
Vanwetering was driving a red Yamaha golf cart at about 10:30 p.m. July 24 on Lake Shore Drive in the area of Canal Street at Lake Sumter Landing when he cut into the lane of a deputy who was following behind him, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy initiated a traffic stop in front of Cody’s.
It appeared that Vanwetering had been drinking. When asked how much alcohol he had consumed, Vanwetering replied, “Quite a bit.”
He said he had “four to five drinks,” including “Two beers and three shots.” When asked to rate himself on a 0-10 scale with 0 being sober and 10 being heavily intoxicated, Vanwetering gave himself a 4. He performed poorly in field sobriety exercises. He provided breath samples that registered .177 and .178 blood alcohol content.
A cooler was found on the passenger side of the golf cart. It contained a partially empty 750ml bottle of Espolon Tequila Blanco and two small empty bottles of Absolut Vodka.
Vanwetering was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. He was ticketed for the open container violation and issued a written warning for violating the deputy’s right of way.
