An Altoona woman found herself behind bars Sunday afternoon after Marion County sheriff’s deputies found her asleep behind the wheel of a running pickup truck on a busy roadway.
Deputies traveling in the 29500 block of SE 127th Street Road came upon a black pickup truck parked in the middle of the roadway. The vehicle was running and in park, and it appeared that its driver, 24-year-old Amber Marie Tovet, was sleeping, a sheriff’s office report states.
A deputy reached into the pickup, turned off the ignition and removed the keys. He then awakened Tovet, who said she was heading home from the Blue Sink recreation area in the Ocala National Forest.
The deputy noted that Tovet’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, her speech was slurred and the odor of alcoholic beverages was evident in the vehicle. He also noticed an open can of Busch Beer in the center console, the report says.
Tovet admitted that she had been drinking and agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises. She failed four of the five tests and was placed under and arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where she provided breath samples of .202 and .194 blood alcohol content – both more than twice the legal limit in Florida. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and released early Monday morning on $1,000 bond.