A man in Tampa, Florida, allegedly chose to have some “extra” fun by not only driving at twice the speed limit, but also drinking himself up to nearly twice the state’s legal limit. When asked about his driving, the man said that he “didn’t have a lot of gas.” Odd.
According to the Tampa Police Department (TPD), the incident occurred on Monday, July 20. At around 12:30 a.m., an officer observed a sedan traveling at excessive speed on Interstate 275.
Moments later, a traffic stop was conducted, and the driver chose to comply. Bodycam footage shared by the TPD showed the officer approaching the driver and engaging in conversation.
The officer told the driver that he had passed him on I-275 at 101 mph. The speed limit at the interchange he was traveling on is 50 mph, which completely shocked the unnamed driver, who just asked, bewildered, “50?”
Trying To Get Home
The man was asked to exit his vehicle and, once again, he cooperated with the officer. Standing next to the interstate, the officer asked him directly why he was driving like that.
“I’m just trying to get home. I didn’t have a lot of gas,” the man said. “I didn’t know it was 55. I thought it was 70 the whole way. Then it hits 80.”
The officer, while saying that there is no 80 mph speed limit in Florida, still said that 100 mph was well above it. The driver, quite sincere, said, “I guess I was speeding, you’re right about that.”
Usually Speeding?
The conversation then began to unravel. While discussing the 80 mph speed limit the driver previously mentioned, the blurred-face man casually admitted to “usually” driving at 80 mph, the bodycam footage showed.
Perhaps picking up on the man’s sincerity, the officer asked the driver how many drinks he had that night. The soon-to-be arrested man said that he only had one: a shot of tequila.
He did say that he drank the shot hours before the traffic stop. Still, judging by his subsequent field sobriety test performance, he might have been a bit insincere with the drinking details.
Arrested While Chuckling
A one-leg stand test followed, during which the man struggled to remain on one foot while looking at it and counting in thousands. A few seconds later, the officer placed him in handcuffs.
“Can you explain to me what’s going on?” the driver asked, while chuckling. The officer said that he was being placed under arrest for a DUI and excessive speeding.
The TPD said that the man measured a breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of nearly twice the state’s legal limit. While the police department didn’t specify the BrAC, Florida’s BAC legal limit is 0.08.