A Texan native with five previous drunk driving arrests was arrested after swerving over the center line in Leesburg.
A Leesburg police officer spotted a gray Toyota SUV moving very slowly Saturday morning southbound on Citrus Boulevard near the intersection with Martin Luther King Boulevard. The officer followed the Toyota which kept swerving across the center line and going into the other lane.
The officer stopped the Toyota near the intersection of Griffin Road and U.S. Hwy. 27. The officer made contact with the driver, 39-year-old Joshua Joseph Hamel.
When asked for his driver’s license, Hamel tried to give the officer his Veterans Affairs identification card. The Toyota SUV was registered in Hamel’s name in the state of Montana.
He was drooling, had bloodshot, watery eyes and heavy odor of alcohol on his breath, according to the arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Hamel had difficulty walking and had to lean against his vehicle to maintain his balance. The officer had to help him walk to his patrol car. He refused to perform standardized field sobriety exercises even though he told the officer he had only had one beer. Hamel provided breath samples that registered .203 and .210 blood alcohol content.
A records check showed Hamel had a driver’s license issued in Maine which was suspended. The records check also uncovered five prior DUIs.
He was charged with driving under the influence and driving while license suspended. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $10,500 bond.
