A 60-year-old who lives with his parents in the Village of Springdale was arrested on a drunk driving charge after he was caught operating a vehicle without a license plate.
Jeffrey Allan Bennett was behind the wheel at about 5:17 p.m. Monday when he was pulled over on Morse Boulevard. A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy initiated the traffic stop after noticing the vehicle did not have a tag attached. A subsequent check determined there was no license plate assigned to the vehicle at all, according to an arrest report.
When a second deputy arrived on the scene to assist with a DUI investigation, he immediately detected a strong odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle. Bennett had bloodshot, glassy eyes and struggled to stay on task when asked to locate his proof of insurance. According to the report, Bennett apologized for slurring his words, telling the deputy he had recently suffered several strokes.
Bennett agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises but performed poorly, exhibiting multiple indicators of impairment during the horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, and one-leg stand evaluations.
He was taken into custody and transported to the Sumter County Detention Center. Although he initially refused to provide a breath sample, Bennett changed his mind after being read the Implied Consent Warning. He provided two breath samples that registered at .150 and .147 blood alcohol content—nearly twice Florida’s legal limit of .08.
A criminal history check revealed Bennett has a prior DUI conviction from 2013 in Seminole County.
Bennett was booked on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. He was held on $3,000 bond.