After the arrest of one of their own, Apopka officer helps Lake officers nab DUI suspect

Frank Stanfield
·2 min read
2

MOUNT DORA — No hard feelings.

At least that’s what it felt like when an off-duty Apopka police officer helped Lake officers nab a DUI suspect after one of their own got busted in Lake County for DUI on Monday.

Oscar Mayorga, 26, was arrested last Monday while in his uniform and patrol car on the way to work by a Eustis Police officer who allegedly spotted him driving erratically. He was arrested and released on $1,000 bond.

On Wednesday, Mount Dora police got a call from off-duty Apopka officer Ashley Eller, who is a DUI and drug expert.

She said she was following a white Dodge pickup truck traveling north on U.S. Highway 441. As it approached the intersection of Wolf Branch Road, it changed lanes, nearly striking another vehicle stopped at a traffic light. She continued following, as the truck swerved and drove over a curb island in a restaurant parking lot off U.S. 441. He hit a curb stop with force, and kept slamming hands against the steering wheel, she said.

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The man, in his mid-60s, seemed to be staggering as he walked while carrying a dog, Eller said.

Mount Dora Police Officer C. Wisdom and another officer went into the Lampu restaurant, where they found the man drinking a bottle of Sake.

After he stepped outside, he seemed to have trouble following simple directions, the officer noted in the arrest affidavit, and he was sweating profusely.

He said he had a glass of wine earlier. He kept saying he was “an old man,” had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and had a prescription for morphine, though he said he wasn’t currently taking the drug.

Police were sure he was impaired with alcohol, drugs or both, so they put him through a series of field tests.

Officers were also concerned about the dog, which was running around the parking lot, near the highway.

A check with the bartender revealed that he had ordered a second bottle of Sake before he finished the first.

The man was arrested and charged with first-offense DUI and held on a $1,000 bond.

Mayorga, a five-year-veteran of the Apopka Police Department, was suspended without pay.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: After arrest of one of their own, Apopka officer helps nab Lake DUI suspect