A Leesburg man was arrested for drunk driving after having two “tall boy” beers and flipping his truck while driving on the highway.
Police received a call for service regarding a pickup truck that overturned and was upside down on the side of U.S. Hwy. 441 around 10:20 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. An unknown witness called stating there was only one man, later identified as 24-year-old Casey James Kale, walking around outside the vehicle.
Upon an officer’s arrival, he observed Kale pacing back and forth near an overturned black GMC pickup truck. He advised that he lost control of his vehicle, and it flipped. There were no other people or vehicles involved in the crash, the report said.
Kale did not have any visible injuries but was still checked out by Lake EMS. He was later released from EMS as he refused any further medical attention, the report said.
The officer then asked Kale where the keys to the vehicle were. He responded by reaching into his right pant pocket, removing the keys and handing them over. Due to this, the officer determined that Kale was in actual physical control of the vehicle, the report said.
At about 10:56 p.m., the officer finished the crash report and began a criminal investigation for driving under the influence. This was because of the odor of alcohol coming from the driver’s breath and other indicators of impairment, the report said.
The deputy informed Kale of this and asked him what happened. Kale explained that while he was making a right onto U.S. Highway 44/441, he started to speed up and lost control of his vehicle, resulting in him driving off the roadway and his vehicle overturning onto the sidewalk, the report said.
At that point, there were no wheel witnesses to put Kale behind the wheel. However, because he willingly admitted he was driving the vehicle and had the keys in his possession, it was presumed he drove, the report said.
Kale subsequently consented to field sobriety exercises. His performance during the exercises, which included glassy eyes and slurred speech, led the officer to conclude Kale was under the influence. Breath samples taken later resulted in .156 and .158, the report said.
As a result, Kale was placed under arrest and taken to adult booking at LPD. This was where he explained that he was on his way home from his father’s house in Eustis after having two “tall boy” Miller Lite beers. Once the booking paperwork was complete, he was transported to UF Health, located at 600 E. Dixie Avenue, where he was medically cleared, the report said.
Kale was then brought in to the Lake County Jail on a DUI charge. He was released after posting $1,000 bond.
