[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 03/02/20]
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TAVARES, Florida — A call to police about a reckless driver resulted in a litany of charges for a Eustis woman late Sunday night.
According to an arrest affidavit, a call was transferred from Eustis Police to Tavares Police in reference to a reckless driver; the complainant said an orange Ford sedan was all over the roadway, almost striking the complainant several times. The vehicle was on Burleigh Boulevard headed towards Leesburg, when it drove over an elevated median, picked up speed to an estimated 75 to 80 miles per hour and then made a U-turn and came back towards Tavares, the complainant said.
A Tavares Police officer waited for the vehicle to come back into Tavares and it approached the officer at 72 miles per hour, the affidavit states. Police pulled the car over and “immediately detected the smell of alcohol coming from the driver’s person.” Kellie Sue Anderson, 58, of Eustis, gave her license to the officer and said she was, “trying to get home.” She told police her sister died and she was coming from North Carolina. Police asked Anderson if she had consumed any alcohol and she said she had one beer, one glass of wine and smoked “pot,” about an hour earlier in DeLand, the affidavit states.
Backup arrived and police conducted field sobriety tests and then placed Anderson under arrest. According to the affidavit, Anderson refused to sit in the patrol vehicle’s seat and had to be forcefully placed there. Anderson began banging on the vehicle and showed officers she had slipped out of the handcuffs. Officers tried to place her back in the handcuffs and she refused; she was removed from the vehicle and kicked one officer in the groin.
Officers gained control of her, handcuffed her once more, and again she refused to sit in the seat, according to the affidavit. She was placed in a seatbelt and attempted to bite another officer. Police searched her vehicle and found marijuana, which Anderson said she smoked. On the way to the Lake County Jail, Anderson said, “[Expletive] mess with her [expletive] car and I will [expletive] kill you both,” the affidavit states.
An officer arrived at the jail with Anderson and requested help from LCJ staff to escort her into the jail. Anderson was placed in a restraint chair and attempted to kick detention deputies while she was restrained. Anderson then announced she had [defecated on] herself. She was asked several times to submit to a breath test and refused each time.
According to the arrest affidavit, Anderson has been convicted of DUI twice and has refused to submit to a breath test in the past. She was charged with DUI third offense, refusal to submit to a breath test, resisting an officer with violence, possession of marijuana under 20 grams and threats to kill law enforcement.
She is being held in the Lake County Jail on $12,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
