TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa woman was arrested for DUI early Sunday morning after she was stopped by troopers while driving the wrong way on Interstate 275.
Margot McDaniels, 42, faces five charges including DUI with property damage or personal injury and fleeing to elude.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) report, a trooper was driving southbound on I-275 at about 3:51 a.m., when he spotted McDaniels’ Kia Sportage driving northbound in the southbound lane. The trooper slowed his cruiser and moved to make contact the Kia to stop the wrong-way driver.
The trooper hit the Kia on the driver side, but McDaniels kept driving, according to the FHP report.
He then followed the Kia and executed a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver to stop the car. McDaniels kept driving until the trooper did a second PIT maneuver and stopped the car.
When the trooper got out of his cruiser, he approached McDaniels’ car and she handed him a Florida identification card. The trooper observed that she had slurred speech and had an alcoholic odor, the report stated.
When the trooper placed her in handcuffs, McDaniels said she had been stopped for DUI two weeks earlier.
During the search of her car, troopers found a pill that was identified at oxycodone, the report stated.
She was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance; leaving the scene of a crash; and driving with license suspended.
She was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail.
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