[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 06/10/20]
EUSTIS, Florida — A Lake County firefighter who had a BAC nearly three times the legal limit was arrested for DUI early Saturday morning after crashing his car on Bay Street, according to an arrest affidavit.
Eustis Police responded to a report of a single-vehicle crash in the area of State Road 19 and County Road 452 shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday and found a Ford Mustang stopped halfway over a curb with front-end damage at 999 North Bay Street. The driver, David Earl Sutton, 22, a firefighter with Lake County Fire Rescue, told the arresting officer he was taking his friend home after leaving a restaurant in downtown Eustis.
Sutton, whose eyes were glassy and had alcohol emitting from his breath, according to the affidavit, said he and his friend left the restaurant around 11:30 p.m. and he was driving his friend home because his friend had been drinking and Sutton wanted to get him home safely. Sutton told police he “knew what he did” and “was pretty messed up,” the affidavit states.
Police performed several field sobriety tests and Sutton was “unsteady and swayed,” and had difficulty balancing. Sutton was taken into custody and transported to Eustis Police Department for a breath test. While he was there, he blew a .224 BAC and a .222. Sutton was transported to the Lake County Jail where he was released on $1,000.
Sutton is on administrative leave without pay from Lake County Fire Rescue pending the outcome of the criminal case, LCFR Director of Communications Levar Cooper told Lake Legal News Tuesday.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
