A 70-year-old woman carrying a bottle of wine was arrested after staggering out of the Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Sue Heard, who lives in the Simple Life Lakeshore community in Oxford, was seen staggering out of the store with the wine bottle at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and heading for a silver Honda HRV, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The bottle was later identified as a Relax Riesling white wine.
A deputy found the Cincinnati native in her car with the engine running. She seemed confused and there was a “strong odor of alcohol emitting from her breath,” the report said. The deputy asked her for her driver’s license, but she fumbled through her wallet and handed him her American Express credit card.
She agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises, but her poor performance led the deputy to conclude she has been driving impaired. She provided breath samples that registered .199 and .197 blood alcohol content.
Heard was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,000 bond.