A Leesburg woman was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence when she crashed into a street sign and fire hydrant while coming home from Shamrock Lodge & Package.
An officer responded to a single vehicle crash near Take 5 Oil Change, located at 121 N. 14th St., around 2:15 a.m. Oct. 30, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Upon arrival, he met with 29-year-old Tabitha Alexandra Navarro who stated she was the driver of the suspected vehicle as she stood outside it. During an interview, she advised that she was driving southbound on U.S. Hwy. 27 in the right lane while going home from Shamrock Lounge & Package, located at 1120 W. North Blvd. She tried to turn right onto High Street when the crash happened, the report said.
The vehicle crashed into a street sign, a fire hydrant and a metal guard rail. There was no airbag deployment, and there was a large amount of front-end damage to the vehicle. Navarro refused medical aid, the report said.
Several officers then made contact with the passenger of the vehicle. They stated Navarro had two alcoholic beverages at Shamrock Lodge & Package before she began to drive. The passenger stated multiple times that Navarro was the driver of the vehicle, the report said.
While speaking to Navarro, one of the officers smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath. She was also unsteady while walking and standing, and her eyes were glassy and watery. There were no containers of alcohol inside the vehicle at the time of the crash, the report said.
Navarro was ultimately found to be at fault for the traffic crash. During the traffic crash investigation, she admitted to having multiple alcoholic beverages before operating her motor vehicle. The passenger corroborated this statement, the report said.
After finishing the traffic crash investigation, the officer told Navarro he completed the civil crash investigation and was starting a criminal investigation for DUI. She agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises in a nearby paved parking lot. She spontaneously uttered she was impaired at the end of the exercises, the report said.
Indeed, Navarro’s performance, which included staggering and swaying, led the officer to conclude she was under the influence. He read her rights, but she refused to speak with him or answer questions. She was placed under arrest and taken to UF Health Hospital, located at 600 E. Dixie Ave., for medical evaluation, the report said.
Navarro was ultimately cleared from the hospital and transported to the LPD for the booking process, during which the officer continued to smell alcohol on her breath. She agreed to provide a sample of her breath to determine her blood alcohol level. But she did not appear to be blowing into the test instrument properly, the report said.
The breath test instrument did not register a reading of Navarro’s breath. At 4:57 a.m., she gave a breath sample, but it was not reliable. At 5:03 a.m., she gave a second breath sample which was again not reliable, the report said.
Navarro was told to blow harder into the breath test instrument, but she refused to cooperate or follow instructions. At 5:12 a.m., she provided a third breath sample that was also not reliable. Six minutes later, she gave another unreliable sample. She was still unwilling to cooperate with officers’ instructions, and it seemed she was providing an inadequate breath sample each time, the report said.
One of the officers tried to read implied consent at about 5:20 a.m., but Navarro began yelling and would not let him finish. At about 6:40 a.m., she was calm, and the officer was able to read her implied consent. Due to her behavior, officers considered her unwillingness to cooperate as a refusal, the report said.
Navarro was subsequently charged with DUI (accident/property damage or minor injury). She was taken to Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.