If I could turn back time
PANAMA CITY — If there’s ever a time to have regrets, it’s when you’re in handcuffs. And if there’s one day to reflect on your regrets, it’s New Year’s Day.
The driver of a Ford Ranger heading home after ringing in the new year at Coyote Ugly had a few regrets of his own when he ran across a Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The decision to drink and drive, though, wasn’t one of them, according to the BCSO report.
According to the report, BCSO deputies stopped the driver near Fox Avenue after watching him nearly clip several mailboxes. Contact was made with the driver, who had all the telltale signs of drinking: cotton mouth, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes. He even still had a stamp on his hand from the bar. He’d been drinking, he said, but conveniently was just around the corner from his house, if only deputies could just let him be on his way.
That didn’t fly, and the driver was asked to perform a field sobriety test. As part of the test, the driver was asked to stand on one leg. It went about as well as you’d expect.
"The last evaluation explained to (the driver) was the one-leg stand. It was also demonstrated by Cpl. McGowin," the deputy wrote. The driver "stated he understood and began. (The driver) immediately began the evaluation and dropped his leg. (The driver) stated, ‘This is impossible. No one can do this.’ Cpl. McGowin stated: ‘I just did it.’ (The driver) then began again. (The driver) dropped his foot numerous times."
His performance earned him a free ride to jail, where he was requested to do a breath sample and registered a 0.122 and 0.118. After giving the breath sample, the driver expressed his regret, not that he had been drinking and driving, but that he hadn’t drank more before being booked into jail.
"When we stepped into the room (the driver) stated: ‘Man I should have drank more if I knew I was coming here.’ "
The case was cleared by arrest.
Click play to listen!