A Villager driving a vehicle with a missing tire was jailed Wednesday night after a Lake County sheriff’s deputy reported seeing him cut off an ambulance with its emergency lights activated, slam into a curb and almost flip over.
The deputy followed the vehicle, which was missing its front passenger side tire, from near UF Health-The Villages Hospital off U.S. Hwy. 27/441 onto 172nd Legacy Lane. He then made a traffic stop and called for a Marion County sheriff’s deputy to take over handling the incident. The Lake County deputy reported that the driver of the gray Kia, 69-year-old Charles John Streciwilk, had slurred speech and smelled of alcohol.
Streciwilk, of the Village of Calumet Grove, struggled through a series of field sobriety exercises with Marion County sheriff’s deputies and at one point uttered, “I’m drunk, what’s next?” a sheriff’s office report states. He was then placed under arrest and during a search of his vehicle, deputies reported finding a vape pen in the center console that contained a brown liquid that field-tested positive for THC/marijuana.
Streciwilk was transported to the Marion County Jail, where he provided breath samples showing .152 and .149 blood alcohol content. Deputies noted in the report that those samples were taken approximately four hours after the initial traffic stop.
After being read his rights, Streciwilk claimed he only drank two small glasses of scotch. He said he didn’t have a medical marijuana card and denied knowledge of the THC vape pen. He said his wife had passed away two years ago and she had a medical marijuana card and then said he may be “legally drunk” but he wasn’t drunk, according to the report.
Streciwilk, who lives at 16858 S.E. 77th Northridge Ct., was charged with driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .15 or higher and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was being held on $3,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.
