She almost hit a Florida Highway Patrol trooper at a traffic stop, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

PASCO COUNTY – A detention deputy was fired Monday (May 8) after she was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said.

Katrina Pereira, 26, was charged with driving under the influence. Deputies said her blood alcohol content was between 0.162 and 0.166, about twice the legal limit.

The arrest happened about 1:58 a.m. Pasco sheriff’s deputies and troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol had blocked a section of U.S. 19 N at the intersection of Hudson Avenue so officials could investigate a fatal traffic crash. Deputies said they had flashing  flares, reflective  cones, four  marked patrol vehicles, and three troopers with flashlights to funnel traffic into the adjacent Winn-Dixie parking lot when they saw a dark colored sedan approaching at a high rate of speed. The car showed no signs of slowing, deputies said.

Deputies waved their flashlights to get the driver’s attention. The sedan eventually stopped after striking two cones and almost hitting a trooper who had to move out of the way. Pereira, who was driving, told deputies she did not stop in time because she did not see them standing in the road. Deputies said an odor of alcohol was coming from the car, but a passenger said he had been drinking. Pereira also admitted having one drink, deputies said.

Pereira had difficulty locating paperwork and never provided her insurance information. While a deputy was in his car checking her license, Pereira pulled her vehicle into the fatality scene and stopped in the middle of it. Deputies said no one had told her to move her car. Deputies said Pereira told them she was just trying to pull closer to a deputy’s car.

When she got out of her car, deputies said she was unsteady on her feet and swayed while standing still. Her breath smelled of alcohol and she would go through mood swings while talking going from angry to crying and then apologetic. Deputies said she had bloodshot, watery eyes. When asked to perform field sobriety tests, deputies said she was uneasy on her feet and had difficulty following directions. Deputies arrested her and took her to the Pasco County Jail where she took a breathalyzer test.

Deputies said she told them she had been distracted by her male passenger and had been attempting to find a song, which is why she did not see the cones or the trooper. Pereira also told them she should have been wearing her glasses.

For information about the Pasco sheriff, go to pascosheriff.com.

Pasco Sheriff | Deputy Arrested | DUI | Crime | Arrests | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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