A lot of weird things happen in Florida every week, and on Friday we're here to roundup the weirdest. This week: a man gets a DUI in a wheelchair, another woman gets a DUI after broadcasting her drunk-driving escapades through an app, and a man arrested for leading police on a chase blames it on a dog.
Man Gets DUI in Wheelchair
Remember when the stereotype about Florida was just that it's full of old people? You know, before the stereotype became that it's full of insane people? Well, it's a magical moment when both of those come together so completely.
Fifty-four-year-old Ronny Hicks was scooting down the road in Palm Bay, Florida, early Tuesday morning in a motorized wheelchair. To make matters worse, he was driving that wheelchair erratically and blocking two lanes of traffic. Police pulled him over and Hicks smelled strongly of alcohol and refused to take a field sobriety test. He also had his head in a bandage due to an unexplained head injury.
Turns out Hicks had an extensive DUI history and was hit with the maximum bond of $5,000 despite the judge having some concern about setting such a high bond for an incident involving a wheelchair.
Can you believe this? Florida woman LIVE STREAMS while drunk driving --> http://on.wtsp.com/1jseEOj
Posted by WTSP 10 News on Monday, October 12, 2015
In other DUI news, a woman was arrested after broadcasting her drunk driving on Periscope, Twitter's live video app.
“I am drunk,” Whitney Marie Beall said in the video while driving. “This is horrible!”
“I’m driving. I think I’m on a flat tire. This is horrible … Goodbye, red light …This song is super hot, I want you guys to know.”
The video quickly went viral, and people were able to determine that she was in Lakeland, Florida. Police there were able to track down 23-year-old Beall and arrested her on DUI charges.
Man Blames High-Speed Chase on His Dog
There are a lot of things you can blame a dog for — eating your homework, barking, farting. You can't, however, blame a police chase on a dog. Police attempted to pull over Reliford Cooper III, 26, in Sarasota, but Cooper lead them on a chase. He swerved through roads, drove through a ditch, and eventually crashed into a house. Cooper then got out of the car, ran into a nearby church, and hid in the bathroom.
When police found him, he had a novel excuse: “I wasn’t driving that car. My dog was driving that car. I ran because I wanted to. You ain’t gonna find no drugs or guns on me.”
Turns out Cooper too smelled of alcohol and was charged with a DUI.
