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Friday, March 29, 2024

Scotch-drinking Ocklawaha woman offers sip to deputy during DUI arrest

Jane Gauthier Fyffe

A 64-year-old Ocklawaha woman reportedly asked a Marion County sheriff’s deputy if he wanted a sip of her scotch while she was being arrested on a drunk-driving charge last Saturday night.

Jane Gauthier Fyffe was charged with DUI and driving with a suspended or revoked license after she was pulled over shortly before 10 p.m. in the 13000 block of SE 118th Avenue Road. It’s her second arrest in less than a month, as she spent 15 days in the Marion County Jail for allegedly battering a law enforcement officer on Oct. 10, according to jail records.

Deputies responded to the Marathon store at SE 100th Avenue and County Road 25, where the witness who called 911 said she was westbound on C.R. 25 when she got behind a white Hyundai Santa Fe with no tag driving recklessly towards Belleview. She said the vehicle veered off the highway into the ditch on multiple occasions, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The witness said the vehicle eventually pulled into the Marathon, where it jumped over a concrete parking lot barrier. She said she pulled alongside the vehicle and saw Fyffe slumped over the steering wheel. That’s when the witness called law enforcement. Marion County firefighters responded and spoke with Fyffe, who they said appeared intoxicated. The firefighters then requested that the sheriff’s office respond, the report said.

Fyffe then pulled away from the parking lot, and firefighters followed her as she drove all over the roadway and on the wrong side of the road before she finally stopped on SE 118th Avenue Road. The firefighters took away her keys until the deputies arrived, according to the report.

The deputies found Fyffe still sitting in the driver’s seat. She had bloodshot, watery eyes and had a strong smell of alcohol. When asked for her driver’s license, Fyffe said it was suspended. A deputy saw a paper cup between Fyffe’s legs that was about half-full of a brownish liquid. Fyffe said the liquid was scotch and asked if the deputy wanted some. The deputy declined, the report said.

Fyffe failed a series of field sobriety exercises and was placed under arrest. A records search showed numerous suspensions, including the most recent in June for financial responsibilities, according to the report.

Fyffe was taken to the Marion County Jail, where she refused to provide a breath sample for testing. She’s being held on $4,000 bond and will appear in Marion County Court on Nov. 13.