A non-English speaking trucker was arrested on a drunk driving charge on Interstate 75 in Sumter County.
Motorists began calling in reports on a semi truck not using a turn signal and swerving out of its lane of travel at about 1 p.m. Tuesday northbound on I-75 near the Sumter County and Hernando County line, according to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
A trooper spotted the truck and saw it nearly collide with a black SUV. The driver of the SUV had to brake hard to avoid a collision and the trucker appeared to be oblivious to the fact that a crash had been narrowly avoided, the report said.
During a traffic stop, the trucker was identified as 36-year-old Numon Azimov of Rego Park, N.Y. The trooper found that the native of Uzbekistan does not speak English. Azimov had a commercial driver’s license issued in New York, but the trooper was concerned that Azimov did not meet the federal requirement that CDL holders be proficient in English.
It appeared that Azimov had been drinking and a nearly empty 200ml container of the alcohol beverage BuzzBallz was found in the cab of his truck. The beverage had a straw sticking out of the container. There were two additional BuzzBallz containers found in a trash bin in the truck.
Azimov performed poorly in field sobriety exercises and provided breath samples that registered .259 and .273 blood alcohol content.
He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $1,000 bond.
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