A Leesburg man was arrested for driving drunk despite claiming he could not perform field exercises or breath tests.
A deputy with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to County Road 44 and Shelley Drive to assist the Eustis Police Department with a traffic stop early Sunday morning, according to an arrest report from LCSO.
Upon the deputy’s arrival, an officer stated they had a reckless driver, later identified as 57-year-old Lewis Johnson Mikell, reportedly heading westbound on CR44. The officer was pulling into 7-Eleven on CR44 and Fishcamp Road when the complainant flagged him down and advised that the vehicle was the front car in a line of vehicles, the report said.
The officer stated he caught up to the vehicle and saw it drive over the white right line, into the grass then back onto the road. He made a traffic stop at that time for a possible DUI. Upon making contact with Mikell, the driver, he could smell the odor of alcoholic beverages coming from the vehicle. The passenger was highly intoxicated, and while asking if Mikell had been drinking, the passenger stated they both had been. LCSO was then called, the report said.
When the deputy spoke to Mikell, he advised that his friend was drunk, he already had two DUIs and had learned his lesson. He was asked to step out of the vehicle to perform a field sobriety test, which he stated he would do, the report said.
Despite his initial consent, Mikell’s performance during the exercises was not compliant. One of the exercises took him six attempts, and he stated he could not do the next two for medical reasons. Due to this, he was placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI, the report said.
Mikell later consented to breath tests, but the first machine showed his breath sample was not met. Several times he tried blowing into the machine and results were “volume not met.” A second machine had the same results. Mikell stated he would not blow in the machine again, and he could not blow air long enough. The deputy noticed he would start blowing, then stop before blowing again at the very end. His test was marked as a refusal, the report said.
A check revealed that Mikell has two prior DUIs and was just reinstated for a driver’s license in March of this year, the report said.
The New York native was ultimately charged with DUI (third offense). He was transported to the Lake County Jail and released after posting $5,000 bond.
