On Sunday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 19-year-old Miami man on DUI charges after he fell asleep in his truck — which was parked in the middle of U.S. 1.
Charlie John Osceola was charged with DUI, operating a vehicle without a valid license, possession of liquor by a person under 21 and resisting arrest without violence.
Deputies were near Mile Marker 108 attempting to get northbound traffic moving in an unrelated incident, when several bystanders notified a deputy that a blue Dodge truck was parked in the middle of the road with the driver asleep behind the wheel.
According to the police report, deputies found the vehicle and attempted to get the attention of Osceola, who was slumped over with his head resting on his chest. Lights, sirens and repeated banging on the window from deputies and paramedics failed to wake him.
Not knowing the medical condition of Osceola, a deputy used his baton to strike the passenger side window several times in an attempt to break it and gain entry. However, the noise of the strikes woke Osceola, who immediately put his truck into drive and began to go forward at a pace of four to five miles per hour. Osceola appeared to ignore any commands from deputies to stop and continued forward, striking the center barricade as he went.
Deputies continued to try and get him to stop, but he started to increase his speed and they could no longer follow him on foot. Deputies further down U.S. 1 were alerted of the situation, and they placed spike strips near the Mile Marker 109.5. Osceola came to a sudden stop right before hitting the spikes, and deputies removed him from the vehicle at gunpoint.
Smelling alcohol on his breath, deputies had Osceola perform several field sobriety tests, which he failed. Deputies placed him in handcuffs and searched his vehicle, where they found approximately 12 alcoholic beverages, including Coronas, Bud Lights and Four Lokos. One Corona was found in the driver’s side door, almost completely empty.
Osceola was transported to Plantation Key Jail without incident, where he was being held without bond.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
If you have information that could help solve a crime in the Florida Keys, call Crime Stoppers, 800-346-TIPS.
