An 18-year-old Ocala man was charged with DUI after being found passed out in the driver’s seat of his vehicle on the shoulder of Marion Oaks Boulevard.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy was finishing up a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. Sunday when he observed a Honda parked on the grass about six feet off the roadway. The deputy walked over and discovered Tyrese Leeshawn Bonner, of 4880 NW 60th Terrace, unconscious in the driver’s seat, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The deputy tried to get Bonner’s attention by knocking on the passenger and driver side windows, but he remained unconscious. Fearing for Bonner’s wellbeing, the deputy opened the door and shook his arm to awaken him. After several attempts, Bonner woke up and started speaking incoherently, the report said.
The deputy observed an open can of Four Lokos malt liquor in the center console of the vehicle. When Bonner turned to speak, the deputy could smell a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, according to the report.
Asked if he was OK, Bonner continued to speak incoherently in a low mumbled voice. Asked if he had consumed any alcohol, he said he had not. Bonner struggled through a series of field sobriety exercises and was placed under arrest, the report said.
Once at the Marion County Jail, Bonner proved breath samples that came back with alcohol level readings of .09 and. 09, which is above the legal limit. Bonner was still in jail on Tuesday. No bond or court information was available.