A 33-year-old Ocala woman was jailed Thursday morning after a Marion County sheriff’s corporal spotted her vehicle veering across lanes of traffic and a bicycle lane before almost hitting a curb.
The corporal stopped a black Kia SUV driven by Kristina Leigh Taylor in the area of Chestnut Road and S.E. 58th Avenue. He reported that Taylor had driven in the bicycle lane for about a quarter of a mile before veering to the right and hitting a curb. He also reported that she drove about a quarter of a mile before stopping after he activated his emergency lights, a sheriff’s office report states.
After the corporal activated his siren, Taylor turned onto Chestnut Road and pulled onto the shoulder. She claimed the alignment on her vehicle “was off,” the report says.
The corporal reported that Taylor “was slow and sluggish to respond and appeared to be in a daze.” The corporal requested Taylor’s driver’s license and after searching for it, she said she didn’t have it. But she did provide her license number, the report says.
A deputy arrived at the traffic stop and noted that Taylor “appeared slow in her movements,” spoke with a “low voice and was thick tongued.” She claimed she had taken Seroquel the previous night before bed. The deputy then invited her to participate in field sobriety exercises, which she agreed to do.
After Taylor struggled through some of the exercises, the deputy determined that probable cause existed to arrest her. She provided breath samples that showed .000 blood-alcohol content, the report says.
After being placed into the back seat of the deputy’s patrol vehicle, Taylor said she “didn’t want to get another charge” and admitted that she had “a sack of weed” between her panties and her pants, the report says. After arriving at the Marion County Jail, the deputy, who is a certified drug recognition expert, determined that Taylor was “under the influence of cannabis and unsafe to operate a vehicle,” the report says.
Taylor, who lives in the 200 block of Larch Road in Ocala, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. She was released early Friday morning on $1,000 bond and her next court date hasn’t yet been determine, jail records show.