MOUNT DORA, Florida—A man, believed to be drunk, went to Mount Dora Police Department to pick up a public records request Monday morning with his young son and was later arrested for DUI, according to an arrest affidavit.
Around 11:30 a.m. Monday, an MDPD officer responded to the department to assist a man with a public records request. When the officer arrived, Alexander Joseph Robillard, 35, was in his vehicle while his 7-year-old son waited in the police department lobby.
“As Alexander was walking towards the front door, he was unsteady on his feet and swaying his body from side to side while walking. He appeared to be unusually upset for no apparent reason and would only provide me with his first name, “Alex,” the arresting officer noted in the affidavit.
Robillard told the officer he was there to pick up public records he requested approximately two weeks prior and had the “odor of the impurities of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath, his face was flushed, his eyes were glassy, and his eyelids were droopy,” the affidavit states.
The officer explained the records department was closed due to the Juneteenth holiday and Robillard began recording the conversation with his phone, and stated the officer was not any help to him. He reportedly became belligerent and told the officer to “go “(expletive) myself,” the officer stated in the affidavit.
Robillard left and called dispatch and requested a supervisor but he did not wait for the supervisor to respond, according to the affidavit.
The officer provided a description of the man to an MDPD sergeant, and the sergeant said Robillard is “not law enforcement friendly” and two officers should respond to assist. The officer also found that Robillard has a suspended license for failure to submit in 2016.
Inside Lake reached out to the City of Mount Dora by email to ask why Robillard was allowed to leave with the child if the officer believed he was drunk, and Interim Chief Michael Gibson emailed this response.
“It is sometimes difficult to get the entire story off a probable cause affidavit. In this case, the officer responded to the lobby to meet with the male citizen regarding a public records request. Upon the officer’s arrival, the male’s son was in the lobby and the male was sitting in his vehicle. While meeting with the male, the officer did recognize that the male could be intoxicated. However, the encounter was not going well, and the male asked to speak with a supervisor. The officer requested a supervisor and then went to retrieve his patrol vehicle so he could have it near the lobby. When the officer went to get his vehicle, the male presumably changed his mind about meeting a supervisor, entered his vehicle and drove away,” Gibson said in the email.
MDPD canvassed the area and Robillard’s home and found his vehicle parked at Gilbert Park in downtown Mount Dora with Robillard sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine running, while the boy played at the park, the affidavit states.
Officers asked Robillard to step out of the vehicle and he refused to participate in field sobriety exercises and said he has not been drinking alcohol for over two months. Robillard was placed under arrest for DUI and taken into custody; and when officers searched his vehicle, they found a half-empty cup of liquid behind the driver’s seat that smelled like alcohol. Robillard had the same cup with him while he was inside the police department, the officer noted.
“After the male left, they began conducting an area check to find him. Once found, he was subsequently arrested,” Gibson said.
Robillard was transported to the Lake County Jail where he also refused a breath test. He was released Monday night on $2,000 bond.
