A Clermont man was arrested for DUI after being found passed out in a Winn-Dixie parking lot with partially drunk Crown Royal.
An officer on patrol found 48-year-old Kevin Michael Meng passed out behind the wheel of a truck in the Winn-Dixie parking lot, located at 680 SR 50, around 12:55 a.m. Saturday, July 4, according to an arrest report from the Clermont Police Department. He was parked in two spots and left the driver’s door open.
While waiting for backup, the officer ran the truck’s license plate and learned it was registered to Meng. Dispatch advised that he was flagged as unfriendly toward law enforcement. The officer then noticed four knives in the compartment of Meng’s open door, so more officers were asked to respond, the report said.
All officers on scene proceeded to walk around the vehicle and check for anymore weapons within reach. They observed a pistol mounted below the steering wheel next to Meng’s right knee, and they saw an open bottle of Crown Royal that had been partially drunk on the floorboard. His truck keys sat on the passenger seat, the report said.
Upon waking up Meng, the officers commanded him to step out of the vehicle with his hands up. He was confused and appeared to be very dazed, so he did not do as instructed. They repeated their commands until he finally exited the truck, the report said.
Meng stumbled and fell against the driver’s door to regain his balance. He was immediately confrontational, argumentative and slow to obey commands, the report said.
When asked why he was double-parked and passed out, he advised that he was too intoxicated to drive. He refused to tell the officers where he was going or where he came from. The report noted there were no bars in the parking lot, so he had to have driven to that spot after already drinking alcohol.
An officer stated it was not normal behavior to be passed out in a vehicle with the door open at 1 a.m., but Meng refused to explain his actions or why he was there aside from being too drunk to drive. He also refused to participate in field sobriety exercises or to provide a breath sample, the report said.
A subsequent inventory of his vehicle yielded a flask with liquor in the center console. Officers confirmed the Crown Royal had been partially drunk, as well. A second pistol was found in the center console, the report said.
Meng was arrested on charges of DUI and refusal to submit to DUI testing. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.