AUBURNDALE – An Auburndale woman was arrested after police say she showed multiple signs of impairment during a traffic stop on Thursday night, according to an arrest affidavit filed with the Polk County Clerk of Court.
On November 7 around 7:57 p.m., an Auburndale Police sergeant reported seeing a white Chevrolet Colorado traveling south on Berkley Road failing to maintain its lane and driving in the bicycle lane. Due to the traffic violations, a stop was conducted near Berkley Road and Jasmine Road. While approaching the truck, the sergeant reported seeing an open vodka bottle with liquid in the front passenger seat.
According to the affidavit, the driver, 41-year-old Amanda Gatlin, was already outside of the vehicle speaking with law enforcement when the responding officer arrived. The officer wrote that Gatlin’s speech appeared slurred and that she smelled strongly of alcohol. Gatlin reportedly admitted to drinking three alcoholic beverages earlier in the day.
The officer stated he asked Gatlin to step away from her vehicle, and she appeared unsteady on her feet and leaned on the truck several times to keep her balance. Gatlin agreed to participate in standardized field sobriety exercises and told the officer she had no medical conditions that would prevent her from doing so.
During the exercises, the officer documented several indicators of impairment. Gatlin allegedly showed four out of six clues during the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, five out of eight clues during the Walk and Turn test, and three out of four clues during the One Leg Stand test.
Gatlin was placed under arrest and transported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing Center for a required 20-minute observation period before breath testing. The affidavit states she did not eat or drink anything during that time. Gatlin agreed to provide breath samples, which reportedly registered breath alcohol levels of 0.188 and 0.190 g/210L.
Gatlin was issued a DUI citation for a breath alcohol level of 0.15 or higher. She was also issued two traffic citations for failure to use a designated lane and knowingly driving with a suspended license.
The case was filed with the Polk County Clerk of Court on November 10.
