The Florida police charged an intoxicated man with a DUI as her drove down a busy highway with a lawn mower. According to Fox 13, the Florida Highway Patrol said police received calls from many worried witnesses around 8:30 AM on Friday, July 18. It’s hard not to notice an erratic lawn mower driver heading southbound on Suncoast Parkway.
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Man Driving Down Highway On Lawnmower Arrested With DUI
Officers didn’t even need to pull him over. The driver had already pulled over to the side of the highway just south of the exit to U.S. 98. They discovered that the vehicle was heading from Citrus County to Hernando County by watching traffic camera footage.
Police arrested 38-year-old Christopher Spain after he showed signs of inebriation. The signs included “small pupils, flushed skin, dry mouth, and visible irritation to the inside of his nose.”
State Troopers also mentioned Spain’s disrespectful and uncooperative behavior during the interaction. He refused to perform field sobriety tests. Not only that, but Spain would repeatedly clear his throat, sniff, and spit during the traffic stop.
Officers eventually charged Spain with driving under the influence. They placed him in Hernando County Jail, but he was later released Friday afternoon on $500 bond.
While this may sound like a rare occurrence, this wasn’t the first time someone pulled a stunt like this. The New York Post reported in 2020 about another Florida man busted for a DUI while driving a lawnmower on a highway.
At the time, Paul Burke from Fort McCoy was arrested while traveling much slower than the speed limit. Going at such a snail-paced speed on a highway is incredibly dangerous.
Burke had admitted to the deputy that he had drunk more than the legal limit. The man reportedly didn’t even have a driver’s license. He also told the deputy he wouldn’t need to do field sobriety tests because he had been drinking.
“Just take me to jail,” Burke had said.
More recently, a similar case had police chasing a tractor excavator on a main highway. This construction vehicle was traveling at walking speed, but it took officers over an hour to finally stop the driver to arrest him.