On Friday, May 8, 2020, PCSO arrested and charged 40-year-old Robin Eileen Ramos of Lakeland with one count DUI (M1). Ramos told law enforcement deputies upon her arrest that she is a teacher at Kathleen Elementary School. She told detention deputies in the jail that she is a teacher at Socrum Loop Elementary School (she is listed as a 5th grade teacher on the Socrum website).
According to the affidavit, around 1:25 a.m., a PCSO deputy observed a 2014 silver Nissan Sentra traveling northbound on Kathleen Road, swerving in and out of the lane. The deputy conducted a traffic stop at Kathleen Road and Central Avenue NW, and requested that a Traffic deputy respond to conduct a field sobriety test, based on the deputy’s observation that Ramos appeared to be impaired.
A Traffic deputy arrived on-scene and conducted a DUI investigation, and determined Ramos’ faculties were impaired. She stumbled while trying to walk, was unsteady and swaying while standing still, and her eyes were bloodshot and watery with dilated pupils. During the “finger to nose” field sobriety test, she failed to touch the tip of her nose on all six attempts. She told deputies that she had not consumed any alcohol, but that she had taken a Xanax prior to driving. The deputies asked her if her prescription for Xanax included the warning that she should not operate heavy machinery after taking it, and she told them she did not know but that she should “probably look into that.”
After Ramos was arrested and transported to the Polk County Jail, she was asked to submit a breath test, which she did. The test did not indicate the presence of alcohol. She was then asked to submit a urine sample to detect the presence of any chemicals or controlled substances. She refused.
“It’s important to understand that certain medications can impair you to the point where you are unable to safely operate a motor vehicle, and that is not only dangerous and puts people’s lives at risk, it is also against the law.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
