TAVARES, Florida—A Tavares woman admitted she was drinking a beer when she slammed into the back of another vehicle stopped at a traffic light Wednesday night—right in front of a Tavares Police officer.
The TPD officer was sitting at the traffic light at U.S. Highway 441 and Huffstetler Drive shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday when she saw a white car slam into the back of a black Chevy at an estimated 50 miles per hour, according to an arrest affidavit.
The officer requested EMS and then approached Mary Gwendolyn Bollinger, 64, who was stumbling outside of her car while she checked for damage. Bollinger, of Tavares, smelled of alcohol, according to the affidavit, and had glassy eyes and slurred her speech as she spoke to the officer.
EMS arrived on scene and checked Bollinger out, along with the occupants of the Chevy and none of the parties were transported to the hospital. Bollinger admitted to EMS she had been drinking about three hours prior to the crash.
Bollinger’s car was towed, and she was given a citation for careless driving; the occupants of the Chevy were released from the scene, the affidavit states.
TPD told Bollinger there were indicators she was impaired, and she admitted she had been drinking and agreed to perform field sobriety exercises. She showed “many indicators of impairment” and was arrested for DUI second offense and transported to the Lake County Jail.
While at LCJ, Bollinger provided two breath samples, one registering at .132 and the other at .13, well over the legal limit; she admitted she drank four beers beginning at 5 p.m. and was drinking a beer when she crashed into the Chevy. She was booked into LCJ and released on $2,000 bond Thursday.
