Winter Springs traffic stop ends with DUI for e-bike rider

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – A man is facing a DUI charge after officers in Winter Springs say they watched him fall backwards off an e-bike this week.

News 6 obtained body camera video of the traffic stop near East State Road 434 around 3:00 a.m. Monday. It shows the man sitting on the e-bike as officers ask him questions about the night.

“Where are you coming from?” an officer asks.

“Did you watch the game?” another says.

According to an arrest report, an officer was sitting in a patrol car when they saw the man cross in front of them and pass through a pedestrian crosswalk on the e-bike. After he fell backward off the bike, he stayed seated on the ground for a short period of time and then tried to get back on his bike and keep going down the sidewalk, the report states.

[BELOW: New rules for e-bikes, scooters eyed in Central Florida]

Officers said the man was unsteady on the bike, and when they spoke to him, they noticed him slurring his words and smelled alcohol.

“We were just sitting in the parking lot, saw him cross down the road. It was like a slow-motion fall,” said an officer describing what he witnessed to another officer on scene with training experience involving DUI traffic stops.

“We followed him down the sidewalk, and he was wobbling,” the officer continued. “You smell alcohol.”

The arrest report says the man refused a field sobriety test and when he was later taken to the jail, he was unsteady on his feet, did not follow directions, and was heard saying, “I’m wasted.”

Court records show he was booked on a misdemeanor charge and given a $500 bond.

We’ve seen cases where people have been arrested for DUI on golf carts, on a lawnmower, and even a horse in Florida.

[BELOW: DUI crashes spike on Super Bowl Sunday]

“If it moves, it counts,” News 6 traffic safety expert Trooper Steve explained. “Anything that technically you are in control of, and you are taking out on the roadway, you could be charged with DUI – even a horse.”

Whether it’s a car or bicycle or something else, the penalties under Florida law are the same:

First Offense:

Up to 6 months in jail

Up to $1,000 fine

Second Offense:

Up to 9 months in jail

Up to $2,000 fine

Mandatory ignition interlock device (at the convicted person’s sole expense)

Third Offense:

Fine up to $5,000

Mandatory ignition interlock device for at least 2 years (at the convicted person’s sole expense)

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