A 58-year-old Ocala man with two DUI convictions in the 1980s was arrested Tuesday for allegedly riding his bicycle while drunk.
Timothy Alan Hott, of 8916 SW 102nd Place, was charged with charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs for the third time in more than 10 years. He was previously convicted of DUI in September 1980 and September 1985, and he’s been arrested numerous other times in Marion County on charges of trespassing, panhandling, aggravated assault, lodging in public and drug and alcohol offenses.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy on routine patrol at around 3:30 p.m. observed Hott on the southeast corner of SW 95th Circle and State Road 200 drinking from a “Natural Ice” beer can. The deputy watched as Hott put the can inside a plastic bag attached to his bicycle and walked across the street and into the median of SW 95th Circle, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Upon observing the deputy’s vehicle, Hott walked back across the street to the corner, grabbed another beer from his bicycle and started drinking it. The deputy saw him drink the entire beer and then crush the can and put it in the same plastic bag as the other beer can, the report said.
Hott appeared to be swaying as he stood. He then hopped on his bicycle and appeared to be struggling to get his balance. Hott drove off through the parking lot of the business at the southeast corner, swerved onto the sidewalk and then headed northeast onto SW State Road 200, according to the report.
The deputy tried to initiate a traffic stop, but Hott didn’t see the emergency lights at first. The deputy activated the siren and Hott swerved while coming to a shop and had to catch his balance. He denied having any alcohol and said he was drinking a “Coca-Cola” when the deputy saw him, the report said.
Hott had a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his mouth as he spoke. When asked about it, he said he had a beer spilled on him but didn’t say when or how. The deputy asked Hott to participate in a series of field sobriety exercises, which he failed, according to the report.
Hott, whose license was suspended in 1980 and has never been reinstated, was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. He’s being held on $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on March 20.