Clermont

CLERMONT, Florida—A Clermont mom was arrested Friday for DUI after driving drunk through the pickup line twice at Pinecrest Lakes Academy, according to an arrest affidavit.

Staff members at Pinecrest Lakes Academy, 14012 Old Highway 50, Clermont requested their Lake County Sheriff’s Office school resource deputy (SRD) assist with a parent they believed was intoxicated at the school around 2:45 p.m. Friday, according to an arrest affidavit.

A witness told the SRD Heather C. Tonnellier, 48, ran over a traffic cone and dragged it under her vehicle in the pickup line and when staff members approached her, they told her she had missed pickup time and she had to park and get her child from the front office.  Tonnellier then left the campus.

The witness also told the SRD a teacher called Tonnellier earlier to speak with her about being late picking her child up and missing a volunteer commitment. The witness said the teacher was concerned Tonnellier was under the influence due to her speech pattern, and the witness said Tonnellier had been escorted off campus on a prior occasion due to her being drunk, the affidavit states.

At 3:11 p.m., the SRD was notified Tonnellier had returned to the campus, driving the wrong way through the pickup line and “having great difficulty following the drive when curves and turns were present,” according to the affidavit.

The SRD watched Tonnellier exit a grey Hyundai, using the vehicle for support and as she made her way to the front office she was staggering and unsteady on her feet. She walked past the SRD and the SRD could smell alcohol, she noted in the affidavit.

The SRD approached Tonnellier and asked her if she was experiencing a medical emergency, she said no, and the SRD explained people were concerned because she hit the cone and made numerous incorrect turns. Tonnellier seemed “confused” by what the SRD was saying.

The SRD asked Tonnellier if she had been drinking, which she denied and she agreed to perform field sobriety exercises. After the exercises, Tonnellier was taken into custody for DUI. The child was turned over to an emergency contact and Tonnellier was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she provided two breath samples, one .200 and one .198, both more than twice the legal limit. She was booked into LCJ and released on $1,000 bond.

In 2021, Tonnellier was arrested for DUI after being involved in a crash in the middle of the afternoon on State Road 50 in Clermont. At one point she told Clermont Police she believed her child was in the vehicle, but later said she dropped the child off at school. In that case, Tonnellier provided breath samples of .229 and .222, nearly three times the legal limit. According to Lake County Clerk of Court records she was sentenced to probation; she completed the probation and terms in May 2022.