A Lake Panasoffkee man was arrested for driving under the influence when he was found drinking red wine in a shopping mall parking lot.
A deputy responded to Walker Ridge Square, located at 1124 N Main St., Bushnell, regarding a suspicious vehicle at 12:35 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Upon arrival, he found 60-year-old Robert Earl Hatch sitting in a red Nissan sedan.
While standing at the door, the officer saw him drink out of a 1.5-liter bottle of Carlo Rossi red wine. He advised that he had been sitting in the parking lot since his car broke down the night before. He had glassy blood eyes and extremely slurred speech during this interaction, the report said.
The smell of alcohol grew stronger as the conversation continued, and the officer noticed Hatch had a large wet stain along his shorts, presumably urine. The officer asked him for his driver’s license, but he was slow and lacked fine motor skills. The report noted he struggled with finding his license and taking it out of his wallet…