CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida woman was arrested after deputies said she was driving drunk in the middle of Hurricane Debby on Monday.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said Sheriff Mike Prendergast was on his way to assess roads during the storm when he saw Candace Wisecup, 38, spinning her wheels at a stoplight in the lane next to him.
When the light turned green, deputies said Wisecup began to drive erratically between lanes and continuously turned her hazards on and off. The sheriff then initiated a traffic stop and called for backup.
Sheriff Prendergast then approached Wisecup's car and said he could smell the odor of alcohol and noticed she had slurred speech. He asked her to step out of the car, and when she did, deputies said they saw several open containers in her front seat.
CCSO said deputies found three empty shooters, an unopened shooter and an open can of beer. They added that Wisecup's cell phone was also on the seat playing videos.
According to deputies, Wisecup failed the walk-and-turn field sobriety test and blamed the storm winds for her inability to walk in a straight line.
According to CCSO, she then refused to listen to instructions during other tests and talked over deputies despite deputies giving her several chances to calm down and focus.
CCSO said she refused to submit a breathalyzer test and was also found to be driving on a suspended license.
"You're going to see a big improvement to traffic flow in this area,"
Nearly $865 million later and the new Howard Frankland bridge is entering its final phase of construction.
