The man was able to tell the officer he had been drinking and was on his way home from Niceville to Santa Rosa Beach.

Staff report

NICEVILLE — A 36-year-old man was arrested for DUI after an officer found him asleep at the wheel while his car was still in drive.

On Dec. 18, two citizens called police after observing the man asleep at the wheel. Officers arrived and found the man with his car in drive, asleep, with his seatbelt on. The officer physically turned the vehicle off and woke the man up and asked for his driver’s license.

Instead of handing him his license, the man “kept handing (the officer) money” and was not coherent or speaking properly. The officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the man.

The man refused standard field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer, but he did say he had been drinking and was on his way home to Santa Rosa Beach. The officer noted in his report the man had a tube television and a case of toilet paper in his passenger’s seat.

The officer continued to ask the man for his license, but the man instead “handed (the officer) three dollars.”

The man was arrested and charged with DUI.