Hernando deputies said he told them he’d been at numerous bars and an ethnic festival.

HERNANDO COUNTY – A Spring Hill man was arrested after deputies saw him driving and acting erratically in the parking lot of the detention center, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

Joseph John Cartagena, 77, of Spring Hill, was charged with one count of driving under the influence.

Just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 20), Detention Sergeant Brad Collito was conducting a security check along the outside perimeter of the Hernando County Detention Center when he saw a 2017 red Chevrolet Impala enter the parking lot.

Collito said he noted that the driver was operating the car in an erratic fashion while pulling into the lot. After a few moments, the driver parked across two parking spaces.

The driver of the Impala, later identified as Cartagena, got out of the Chevrolet and began to urinate in plain sight of the deputies who were in the parking lot.

Collito and Deputy Victor Latty approached Cartagena. Both deputies said they saw that Cartagena was unsteady on his feet. They said Cartagena made spontaneous statements about coming from numerous bars and an ethnic festival in the area.

A traffic unit was called to conduct a DUI investigation.

Deputy Aaron Cochrane arrived on scene and said he saw Cartagena had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath. Cochrane noted that Cartagena was unable to stand without assistance and was “constantly falling over.”

Cochrane said he decided that it would be unsafe for Cartagena to perform field sobriety exercises because of his obvious impairment, along with his advanced age. Based on the totality of circumstances on scene, Cochrane arrested Cartagena under arrest and took him inside the detention center.

Once inside, Cartagena submitted to a breathalyzer test for the purpose of determining the alcohol concentration in his system. Cartagena provided two breath samples, which were 0.207 and 0.208 BAC, deputies said.

Hernando Sheriff | Crime | DUI | Arrests | Tampabay News

#HernandoSheriff #Crime #DUI #Arrests #TampabayNews