A car wash worker dialed 911 after a “severely intoxicated” driver got in line for a wash.
Guatemalan native Alfredo Perez Morales, 44, of Summerfield, who was driving without a license, was at the wheel of a gold 2005 Ford Taurus when he showed up shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mr. Clean Car Wash on U.S. 301 in Oxford, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. He initially pulled up to the exit, rather than the entrance, of the car wash. A car wash employee went up the driver’s side window of Morales’ vehicle and tried to instruct him on how to properly enter the car wash.
Morales drove to the near by Tire Kingdom where he “continued to drive in circles” before returning to the car wash and driving “straight into the car wash tunnel.” The car wash employee saw that Morales was “severely intoxicated” and called 911. When Morales spotted the approaching deputy, he pulled away, but was stopped a short distance away on County Road 466.
During a traffic stop, Morales handed the deputy a Guatemalan identification card. A bilingual deputy was summoned to the scene. Morales admitted he does not have a driver’s license obtained in the United States.
A search of the vehicle turned up four unopened 24-ounce cans of Modelo beer and an unopened bottle of Corona beer. All were still “cold to the touch,” the report noted.
Morales struggled through field sobriety exercises. He provided breath samples that registered .196 and .195 blood alcohol content.
He was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,000 bond.
