A Summerfield man with an open bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey in his car was arrested Sunday night on U.S. 301 in Wildwood.
Jerry Caldwell Helton, 62, was pulled over shortly after 10 p.m. after a citizen alerted law enforcement about a vehicle that was swerving and being driven erratically, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. During the traffic stop, the police officer noted that Helton smelled of an alcoholic beverage and had “very slurred speech.” The officer also spotted in “plain view” the bottle of whiskey on the car’s floor board. Also found in the vehicle was a Yeti cooler “filled with empty and unopened beer cans.”
Helton stumbled when he got out of the vehicle and struggled through field sobriety exercises.
“I know I cannot do the test so do whatever you have to do,” Helton told the police officer.
Helton refused to provide a breath sample.
He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $500 bond.
