A drunk driving suspect was arrested with five children in his vehicle in Leesburg.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was on traffic patrol in the wee hours of Monday morning when he clocked a vehicle traveling 83 miles per hour in a 55 mph speed zone on U.S. Hwy. 27 near Plantation Boulevard. When the deputy turned on his emergency lights the vehicle came to a stop after turning onto El Presidente Boulevard.
The deputy made contact with the driver, 20-year-old Marques Denis of Orlando, and noted a strong odor of alcohol. The deputy also detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car. The deputy noted in his report that none of the people in the car were wearing seat belts. Five children were in the car – a 17-year-old, two 14-year-olds, an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old. One of the children said they had smoked marijuana about an hour before their vehicle was stopped. A search of the car turned up a half full bottle of E&J brandy, but no illegal drugs were found.
Denis agreed to perform standardized field sobriety exercises and was placed under arrest for driving under the influence. He provided two breath samples which registered .110 and .111 blood alcohol content.
He was booked at the Lake County Jail on five counts of felony child neglect as well as DUI. The report did not describe the relationship between the youths and Denis, but two of the child neglect charges were classified as “domestic” for which no bond was set.
