A Lake Panasoffkee man was arrested for driving under the influence when he was found drinking red wine in a shopping mall parking lot.
A deputy responded to Walker Ridge Square, located at 1124 N Main St., Bushnell, regarding a suspicious vehicle at 12:35 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Upon arrival, he found 60-year-old Robert Earl Hatch sitting in a red Nissan sedan.
While standing at the door, the officer saw him drink out of a 1.5-liter bottle of Carlo Rossi red wine. He advised that he had been sitting in the parking lot since his car broke down the night before. He had glassy blood eyes and extremely slurred speech during this interaction, the report said.
The smell of alcohol grew stronger as the conversation continued, and the officer noticed Hatch had a large wet stain along his shorts, presumably urine. The officer asked him for his driver’s license, but he was slow and lacked fine motor skills. The report noted he struggled with finding his license and taking it out of his wallet.
Sumter County Fire and EMS were later dispatched to the scene to evaluate Hatch for any medical issues. A paramedic approached the officer to say Hatch told him, “I’m just drunk, take me to the hospital.” However, he showed no signs of medical problems like low blood sugar, blood pressure or heart rate, the report said.
At that point, the officer asked him to participate in field sobriety exercises. He instead started talking about stuff which did not pertain to the investigation. He was given plenty of chances to do the exercises but refused, the report said.
A subsequent inventory of Hatch’s vehicle revealed an empty bottle of DE KUYPER liquor on the floorboard of the front passenger area. The bottle of red wine was there, too, both in reach of the driver’s seat. Hatch later refused to provide a breath sample, the report said.
The Georgia native was arrested on charges of DUI and DUI (refusal to submit DUI testing), as well as given a citation for possessing an open container of alcohol within a parked vehicle. He was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center to be held without bond.