Grandmother headed to hospital for birth of grandchild busted for DUI

A Leesburg woman was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence when she allegedly tried to drive drunk to the hospital for the birth of her grandchild.

An officer responded to a request for assistance with a possible intoxicated driver, later identified as 39-year-old Amanda Jean Frost, at 400 W. North Boulevard around 11:15 p.m. on Monday, March 25, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. 

Upon the officer’s arrival, another officer from Fruitland Park Police Department explained that she was traveling northbound on U.S. Hwy. 441 near Newell Hill Road when she observed a silver pickup truck ahead of her. It began driving erratically and was unable to maintain its lane, the report said. 

The officer shared her dash camera footage which showed the vehicle’s erratic driving pattern. While watching the video, the assisting officer saw the vehicle indeed failing to maintain a single lane, travel into the left lane and back across the center lane into the right lane. This led to the other officer conducting a traffic stop, the report said. 

The officer then spoke with Frost, the driver of the vehicle. She stated that she had just got off work from the Exxon gas station, located at Canal Street and W. North Boulevard, and was going to the hospital for her grandchild’s birth. The report noted she was traveling in the opposite direction of UF Health Hospital where she advised she was going. 

While speaking with Frost, the officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle and that her eyes appeared glassy and watery. These indicators of impairment along with her erratic driving led to the officer asking Frost to participate in field sobriety exercises, the report said. 

As Frost got out of her truck and began walking toward the patrol vehicle, the officer noticed her walk to be staggering and unsteady. The officer asked her to do the exercises and explained the consequences of not doing so, after which Frost advised she would be willing to perform them, the report said. 

Frost’s performance of the exercises, which included poor coordination and swaying, and the totality of the circumstances led the officer to conclude that she was driving under the influence. She was taken to the Leesburg Police Department for booking paperwork where she refused to submit to a breath test or speak with law enforcement. She later admitted without being questioned that she was at home earlier in the night drinking when she got a call about her grandchild being born, so she was driving to the hospital, the report said. 

Frost was charged with DUI and transported to Lake County Jail. She was released after posting $1,000 bond.