The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a woman for driving while impaired on Friday night, October 20, 2023; the woman told deputies she was a third-grade Pinellas County teacher at Sky View Elementary School in the city of Pinellas Park.
52-year-old Leslie Spence of Tampa was taken to the PCSO Sheriff’s Processing Center, where she was charged with driving under the influence with a breath alcohol content of.15 or higher (M1).
“Children learn from adults and educators, so if you fall under both of those categories, it is imperative that you’re setting a good example. Since Ms. Spence failed to do that, we’re going to use this as a teaching moment—don’t drive drunk. It’s dangerous, and you’ll end up in detention at the Polk County Jail,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
At about 10:44 p.m., a good citizen saw something and said something. The witness reported a vehicle traveling east on State Road 60 at about 25mph and swerving across lanes.
A PCSO deputy caught up to the silver Ford SUV and conducted a traffic stop on SR 60, just west of US 27 in Lake Wales.
The deputy noted that Spence had slurred speech with a strong odor of alcoholic beverages, and her eyes were bloodshot and watery.
After a field sobriety test, Ms. Spence was arrested for DUI.
At one point, deputies say Spence said to the deputy “my father is a lawyer and he will sue every single one of you.”
Deputies say Spence provided two breath samples; one measured 0.213 G/210L and the other 0.214 G/210L. Both samples were well over twice the legal threshold of 0.08 G/210L.
In addition to the DUI criminal charge, Spence was also given a citation for failing to maintain a single lane.