A Silver Springs man who admitted to drinking six beers was arrested on a DUI charge after being pulled over Sunday night.
Dennis L. Watkins, 60, of 484 NE 166th Terrace, told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy while en route to jail that he’s been driving while intoxicated for 40 years and it finally caught up with him, according to the sheriff’s office report.
While at the Circle K store at 16991 E. Hwy. 40, the deputy observed a black Dodge pickup truck driven by Watkins turn north onto SE 170th Avenue and cross over the center line and back into the northbound lane before pulling off the road and sitting there for about a minute with the brake lights on before resuming travel, the report said.
After catching up to the truck on SE 170th Avenue, the deputy saw it cross over the yellow line and into the middle of the oncoming lane, and then cross over the white line and off the road before coming to an abrupt stop. The deputy was concerned the driver was sick, injured, impaired, or having a vehicle problem and initiated a traffic stop in the 200 block of SE 170th Avenue, according to the report.
The deputy asked Watkins if he was OK and Watkins replied, “Yeah.” When the deputy asked why Watkins was all over the road, he said, “I’ve been drinking.” The deputy immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Watkins’ breath. Watkins was unsteady on his feet as he stepped out of his truck and had to hold onto the vehicle to steady himself, the report said.
When asked to perform field sobriety exercises, Watkins told the deputy, “We don’t have to go through all this. I got a buzz and you already know this.” He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was being held Tuesday on $1,000 bond. He’s scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on July 30.