Teh One Who Knocks
05-07-2019, 10:57 AM
John Chambliss - The Ledger
https://i.imgur.com/biVy7Br.jpg
HAINES CITY — County music star George Jones would have been proud.
On Saturday, a Haines City man was arrested on drunk driving charges after police said he crashed a lawn mower into a police cruiser.
Gary Wayne Anderson, 68, crashed into the cruiser outside Rodriguez Fashion, 1100 U.S. 17/92 N., about 7 p.m. while a Haines City police officer was away from the car, police reported.
Anderson acknowledged hitting the cruiser, but offered an excuse of being drunk and said there was no damage to the car, according to a release from the HCPD.
He failed the field sobriety test and was taken to the Haines City Police Department. At the department, Anderson told officers he had been poisoned by police and demanded to be taken to a hospital, the HCPD said.
At Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, his blood-alcohol level was .241 — more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%, according to Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the HCPD. Cocaine was also found in Anderson's system, police reported.
Anderson's mood shifted from laughing to aggressive, and at one point he directed racial slurs at an officer, police reported.
Anderson's driver's license has been suspended since 1978. He has two prior drunk driving convictions.
The crash caused minor damage to the rear bumper of the cruiser. Anderson's lawn mower and a trailer hooked to the mower were towed. A cooler could be seen in the trailer from a picture provided by police.
The most famous alcohol-related lawn mower incident involved country music icon George Jones.
In country singer Tammy Wynette’s 1979 autobiography, she wrote that she awoke at 1 a.m. to find her husband, Jones, gone from their South Lakeland home.
Jones had driven a lawn mower 10 miles down a main highway to the nearest bar, she said.
https://i.imgur.com/biVy7Br.jpg
HAINES CITY — County music star George Jones would have been proud.
On Saturday, a Haines City man was arrested on drunk driving charges after police said he crashed a lawn mower into a police cruiser.
Gary Wayne Anderson, 68, crashed into the cruiser outside Rodriguez Fashion, 1100 U.S. 17/92 N., about 7 p.m. while a Haines City police officer was away from the car, police reported.
Anderson acknowledged hitting the cruiser, but offered an excuse of being drunk and said there was no damage to the car, according to a release from the HCPD.
He failed the field sobriety test and was taken to the Haines City Police Department. At the department, Anderson told officers he had been poisoned by police and demanded to be taken to a hospital, the HCPD said.
At Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, his blood-alcohol level was .241 — more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%, according to Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the HCPD. Cocaine was also found in Anderson's system, police reported.
Anderson's mood shifted from laughing to aggressive, and at one point he directed racial slurs at an officer, police reported.
Anderson's driver's license has been suspended since 1978. He has two prior drunk driving convictions.
The crash caused minor damage to the rear bumper of the cruiser. Anderson's lawn mower and a trailer hooked to the mower were towed. A cooler could be seen in the trailer from a picture provided by police.
The most famous alcohol-related lawn mower incident involved country music icon George Jones.
In country singer Tammy Wynette’s 1979 autobiography, she wrote that she awoke at 1 a.m. to find her husband, Jones, gone from their South Lakeland home.
Jones had driven a lawn mower 10 miles down a main highway to the nearest bar, she said.