An 80-year-old resident of The Villages was detained on a drunk driving charge following a two-vehicle crash.
Irene Estelle Thomas of the Haciendas of Mission Hills was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence after colliding at the junction of Morse Boulevard and Mission Hills Trail about 7:27 p.m. on Friday.
According to an arrest record from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas was driving a gray Hyundai Tucson that collided with a blue Toyota Camry.
When a deputy met with Thomas after the crash, he noticed she had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and the odor of alcohol on her breath. The deputy also stated that Thomas had strong mood swings, quickly moving from calm to crying when discussing the incident.
Thomas volunteered to engage in field sobriety tests, assuring the deputy she had no mobility concerns and that she usually walks her dog and works out at a local gym. However, she struggled greatly during the evaluation. During the walk-and-turn exercise, Thomas lost her balance and removed her shoes to try to stay upright. The deputy saw that she failed to follow directions, missed her heel-to-toe steps, and eventually declined to perform the one-leg stand exercise.
Thomas supplied breath samples with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.153 and 0.146, which were nearly twice the legal limits.
The native New Yorker was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting a $1,000 bond. The report revealed that she had no past DUI convictions.
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