INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 40-year-old intoxicated man was arrested after a sheriff’s deputy found the man asleep in the driver’s seat of a vehicle at an intersection, law enforcement officials said. The vehicle sat through two sets of green lights.
John Roberts, of Palm Bay, was charged with driving under the influence. He was released Saturday from the Indian River County Jail on $5,000 bail.
John Roberts
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
A deputy went to the scene shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday to State Road 60 and Interstate 95 for a DUI call. The caller reported that the driver of a vehicle was asleep at a red light, woke up and then drove on northbound I-95.
The caller said the driver was possibly intoxicated because of their driving pattern, deputies said.
The deputy searched for the vehicle and found it at County Road 512 and I-95 facing east at a traffic light.
The deputy saw the vehicle sit through two sets of green lights. When the deputy approached the vehicle, he saw a man asleep in the driver’s seat with the engine on, his foot on the brake and the car in drive, deputies said.
When the deputy opened the driver door and turned the vehicle off, the man, later identified as Roberts, regained consciousness. The deputy told Roberts to put his vehicle in park and to show his drivers license.
Roberts told the deputy he was heading back to his home from visiting his mother’s house. The deputy smelled an alcoholic odor while speaking with Roberts.
When a Florida Highway Patrol trooper arrived on scene, Roberts admitted to drinking a couple beers earlier that night. Roberts was arrested and taken to the county jail for booking.
