The son of a Villages’ couple was behind bars this morning after allegedly hurling racial slurs at law enforcement during a late-night drunk driving arrest.
At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about a man driving a Lincoln Towncar with Pennsylvania plates fleeing the scene of a disturbance. A deputy spotted the vehicle driving at a high rate of speed southbound on Buena Vista Boulevard near Saddlebrook Recreation Center.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as 34-year-old Derek John Hoffman who lives on Pinehurst Drive in the Village of Country Club Hills. Hoffman denied he had been drinking.
He failed field sobriety exercises.
When a wrecker arrived to tow his vehicle, Hoffman became “very aggressive and combative,” according to the arrest report. He attempted to kick out the rear window of a patrol car.
The he began making racial slurs at the deputies.
At about 1 a.m., Hoffman provided a breath sample registering .198 blood alcohol content. He refused to provide a second breath sample.
He was booked on a charge of driving under the influence. Bond was set at $1,000.