A Villager who admitted to taking Oxycodone was arrested after driving a Buick onto a Villages golf cart path.
An off-duty University of Central Florida police officer at 9 p.m. Monday saw the car drive onto the golf cart path along El Camino Real. The university police officer, who was driving his personal vehicle, drove behind the gray Buick and began honking his horn and flashing his lights, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The Buick continued on for about a half mile before coming to a stop when it reached the Morse Circle. When the off-duty officer approached the vehicle, the driver attempted to drive away. The officer put the car into “park” and removed the driver from the vehicle.
A deputy that arrived on the scene asked the driver, 53-year-old Eric Wayne Singleton of the Village of Country Club Hills, if he had been drinking. Singleton said he had not, but admitted to taking Oxycodone. He said he was distraught over the recent death of his mother. He had trouble standing and leaned against his car.
An ambulance crew arrived on the scene to evaluate Singleton. He was medically cleared.
“Well I’m sober, so can I just go home?” he asked the deputy.
Instead, the deputy asked Singleton to take part in field sobriety exercises which he failed.
He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $1,000 bond.
