A Villager was arrested on a drunk driving charge after flipping his golf cart following a night out at Brownwood Paddock Square.
Paul Mancuso, 61, of the Village of Dabney, was driving a golf cart at about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday when he crashed in a roundabout at St. Catherine Circle and Meggison Road in the Village of Citrus Grove, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The crash caused the golf cart to flip over.
When a Wildwood police officer arrived at the scene, Mancuso was standing near the wreckage and swaying from side to side. The officer spotted a smashed alcohol container and a Dos Equis bottle cap on the ground behind the golf cart. There was also an open, cold alcoholic beverage inside the cart within arm’s reach of the driver’s seat.
When emergency medical personnel asked Mancuso what had happened and if he had been drinking, he replied, “Yes, I have been drinking, I left Brownwood Square.”
Noting Mancuso’s slurred speech, the officer transitioned the crash investigation into a driving under the influence investigation. Mancuso refused to participate in standardized field sobriety exercises and was taken into custody.
He was transported to the UF Health Emergency Room Clinic at Brownwood to be medically cleared, but he refused to follow instructions from the nursing staff. When the officer stepped in to reiterate the directions, Mancuso took a defensive posture, tensed his arms, and stepped toward the officer in an aggressive manner, the report indicated. He had to be forcibly placed onto a hospital bed so medical staff could finish their procedures.
During the booking process at the jail, Mancuso agreed to provide a breath sample. He provided two samples that registered at .213 and .215 blood alcohol content, nearly three times the legal limit of .08 in Florida.
Mancuso is facing charges of driving under the influence and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $2,000 bond.