An Orlando woman driving home from The Villages was charged with DUI on Sunday night after being pulled over in Leesburg when she almost struck a police car while changing lanes.
Shortly before midnight, a Leesburg police officer was in the right lane traveling west on West Dixie Avenue near South Ninth Street when a red BMW with the license plate “LSUGURL” changed from the left lane to the right lane without using a signal. The BMW almost struck the patrol car and the officer had to slow down to avoid a collision, according to the police report.
After passing the Ninth Street intersection, the BMW swerved back into the left lane without a signaling. The vehicle was also traveling at a high speed, and the officer conducted a traffic stop, the report said.
The officer spoke to the driver, 53-year-old Paige Kelly Lion, who said she was leaving The Villages and heading to her residence in Orlando. The officer smelled alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle and saw an open container of black cherry Bud Light Seltzer on the floor in front of the passenger seat, according to the report.
Asked if she had been drinking, the Baton Rouge, La., native said she had just one drink. Lion agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises, which she failed, the report said.
Lion was arrested and booked at the Leesburg Police Department. She was then taken to the Lake County Jail, where she was released Monday morning on $1,000 bond. Lion is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Aug. 2.
