A Leesburg man called his wife early Saturday morning after being stopped by a Fruitland Park police officer for speeding and told her he was going to jail.
The officer was on traffic patrol when he recorded a silver Acura traveling northbound on County Road 468 traveling at 61 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. As the officer followed the Acura he noted the driver was moving in and out of his lane. The officer stopped the car near the intersection of Pine Ridge Dairy Road and Rooks Avenue. The driver was identified as 31-year-old Asa Croup of Leesburg.
When the officer asked Croup for his driver’s license he noticed him moving sluggishly and slurring his words. When he was asked if he had been drinking, Croup said he had not consumed any alcohol.
When the officer asked Croup to exit the car he noted in his report that Croup had to use the Acura for support. When asked again if he had consumed any alcohol he said, “Not much.”
He initially refused to participate in standardized field sobriety exercises. The officer went back to his patrol car and when he returned Croup agreed to take the field exercises. As the officer was preparing for the exercises, he heard Croup call his wife and say numerous times to her that he was “going to jail.” When he finished talking to his wife, Croup again refused to do the exercises. He was placed under arrest. When Croup was asked to provide a breath sample for analysis he refused. Coup was taken to the Lake County Jail where bond was set at $1,000.
