A 55-year-old Village of Orange Blossom Gardens woman continued driving for two miles with a patrol car in pursuit prior to her arrest this past week.
Lauren Ann Cote had been at the wheel of a maroon Hyundai at about 1:30 p.m. Friday when the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint about a reckless driver on County Road 475 in Oxford.
A deputy located the vehicle, but it continued on for two miles with the deputy’s patrol car’s emergency lights activated. Cote claimed she had been looking for Providence Ranch equestrian center, which is where the traffic stop took place.
Cote appeared to be “very slow and lethargic in her movements,” the arrest report said.
Cote said she could not participate in field sobriety exercises.
“The defendant told me she has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, degenerative disc disease, and has four bulging discs in her back,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report.
Cote told the deputy she had taken prescription Hydrocodone 45 minutes before the traffic stop. She refused to provide a urine sample.
She was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. She was released after posting $1,000 bond.
