A beer-drinking Villager will lose her driver’s license and has been ordered to get an alcohol evaluation after a drunk driving arrest earlier this year.
Karen Lee Saunders, 58, of the Village of Santo Domingo, last week in Lake County Court entered a plea of no contest to a charge of driving under the influence. She was placed on probation for 12 months and her driver’s license was suspended for six months, although she will be eligible for a business purposes only license. She was also ordered to seek an alcohol evaluation and follow any recommended treatment.
She had been driving at “a very slow rate of speed with no visible lights on the rear of the vehicle,” at about 2 a.m. Sept. 9, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. A traffic stop was initiated at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and County Road 466A.
While the officer was speaking with Saunders, he “could detect the odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle, made stronger while she was speaking,” the report said. The officer asked Saunders if she’d been drinking. She admitted she had consumed “a few beers.”
Saunders’ poor performance in field sobriety exercises led the officer to conclude she had been driving impaired. She provided breath samples that registered .152 and .148 blood alcohol content.
