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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Villager gets break when golf cart DUI bargained down to lesser charge

Kathleen Mary Niesen

A Villager won a break last week in Sumter County Court when her drunk driving arrest from earlier this year resulted in her pleading no contest to a lesser charge.

Kathleen Mary Niesen, 57, of the Village of Calumet Grove, was arrested on the night of July 1 after a golf cart crash which occurred after she left Bonefish Grill. Niesen told deputies she struck a tree near the entrance to the golf cart path alongside County Road 101. She added that she was “fine.” Deputies invited her to participate in field sobriety exercises in the parking lot of New Covenant United Methodist Church. She took off her shoes, but was unable to walk the white line. She struggled through the remainder of the exercises. She later provided breath samples that registered .186 and .187 blood alcohol content. 

Last week, Niesen entered a plea of no contest to the lesser charge of reckless driving. She will lose her driver’s license for six months, has been placed on probation for one year and was ordered to serve 80 hours of community service.

She was represented by Gail Louise Grossman, who is also representing a Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter woman also vigorously fighting a drunk driving charge.

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