A Villager in a golf cart seeking Emergency Room care crashed into a gate arm in the parking lot at UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital.
Richard Paladino, 65, was “disheveled” and wearing a black robe, sweatpants and no shirt when a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy arrived late Saturday night to investigate a report of a golf cart crash.
Paladino’s red Club Cart golf cart was caught on video surveillance as it rammed a gate arm in the parking lot near the Emergency Room. He proceeded to drive the golf cart under the overhang at the main entrance to the ER. He had suffered an injured hip when he fell over a tool box at his home on the Historic Side of The Villages, according to an arrest report. He apparently drove the golf cart to the hospital seeking treatment for his injury.
When a deputy attempted to interview Paladino while he was in a hospital bed, it appeared the resident of the Historic Side of The Villages was impaired. Paladino agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises while lying in the bed, but struggled to touch the tip of his nose. He refused to provide a breath sample.
He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. The Connecticut native was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $500 bond.
