What started as a “person-down” call at a Shell gas station in Plant City, Florida, quickly unfolded into one of those stories that makes you put your phone down for a second. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded Thursday to the station at 1665 Branch Forbes Road after someone reported an unresponsive person near a gas pump. What they found when they got there checked off a deeply troubling list of circumstances no one expects at a mid-afternoon fuel stop.
Behind the wheel of the parked car was 26-year-old Patrick Voegtly, completely unconscious. Sitting in the backseat was his 5-year-old child. And in plain view inside the vehicle was a loaded gun. The situation only got more alarming from there once deputies started putting the pieces together.
When deputies managed to rouse Voegtly from his stupor and place him under arrest, they discovered a second firearm tucked in his pocket. His eyes were glassy, his speech was slurred, and a breathalyzer confirmed what his appearance already suggested: his blood alcohol content clocked in at more than double Florida’s legal limit of 0.08. At that point, the picture was about as grim as it gets…