Florida man accused of driving drunk while dropping kid off at school
FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A 47-year-old Oxford, Florida man is charged with DUI and child neglect deputies say he was driving drunk while dropping a child off at school.
Deputies say 911 calls poured into the Lake County Sheriff’s office yesterday morning reporting Christopher Beauchemin, 47, driving recklessly near Spring Lake Road in Fruitland Park.
“It went off the road two times, in a short period of time,” said a 911 caller.
"He called, based on the suspect coming up and almost running into the back of him, went around him and them ran him off the road, he said he watched the suspect and he almost ran into two or three other people head on," said Sgt. Fred Jones, with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
What’s worse the 911 caller told deputies there was a child in the car.
“He said he saw a young juvenile male in the back seat and he could tell that the kid was afraid," said Jones.
Witnesses told deputies Beauchemin dropped the child of at the Holy Trinty School in Fruitland Park and then fell asleep.
“The suspect was passed out behind the wheel, and so the officer taped on the glass, the guy woke up and he threw the car into drive and went into the fence,” Jones said.
You can still see the damage to the fence from the crash, Beauchemin was arrested and deputies say he was driving at nearly three times the legal limit -- sheriff’s officials call the incident disturbing.
“When you have a kid in a car , be it your kid or someone else’s kid, you’re their protector , you’re the person that kid looks up to, to save them but here we have this kid, he was petrified, so it’s very disturbing,” Jones said.