Serial DUI offender caught driving lawn mower on Florida highway while drunk, deputies say

FORT McCOY, Fla. — A Florida man was arrested last week after refusing to consent to a field sobriety test when a sheriff’s deputy stopped him for driving a lawn mower on a Marion County highway.

Paul Burke was arrested Aug. 5 after a deputy spotted him riding a lawn mower down the middle of Highway 316, where the speed limit is 55 mph, WPEC reported.

According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the deputy smelled alcohol on Burke’s breath, and he was booked for driving under the influence after refusing to submit to a blood test, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Body camera footage of the incident shows the deputy requesting Burke take a field sobriety test and Burke explaining that “there’s no sense in it” because “I’ve been drinking,” the newspaper reported.

As the exchange continued, Burke told the deputy that he had no license and “I have had a little bit too much to drink.”

When the deputy asked a final time if Burke would submit to the field sobriety test, Burke replied, “No sir. Just take me to jail,” the Sentinel reported.

Prior to the Aug. 5 incident, Burke had three previous DUI convictions. His license has been suspended three times and revoked four times, all for prior DUIs and refusals to submit to field sobriety tests, WPEC reported.

Cox Media Group