Two Florida charter school principals ended their Fourth of July night in the back of separate police cars, arrested on DUI charges hours apart, both stops tied to the same white Jeep.
Bodycam video released by officials shows Jennifer Jimenez, 41, and Christina Alcalde, 45, each being taken into custody. According to a Clermont Police Department probable-cause affidavit obtained by Fox affiliate WOFL-TV, an officer pulled the Jeep over around 2 a.m. on July 5 in Clermont after watching it drift in and out of its lane, cross into oncoming traffic more than once, and drive over a curb.
Jimenez was behind the wheel, with Alcalde in the passenger seat. "Ms. Jennifer, you consumed any alcohol today cause I can smell it," the officer says on the video. "Yes, I have," Jimenez replies. The officer reported that she "would blink really slow and had very slow and delayed reactions," and she was arrested on charges of DUI and refusal to submit to testing.
A Second Stop Before Sunrise
Police said Alcalde also appeared impaired during that first stop, so rather than tow the Jeep, officers moved it to a nearby parking lot and sent her home in a rideshare. It did not end there. Around 5 a.m., less than three hours later, the Lake County Sheriff's Office was told Alcalde may have gotten behind the wheel of the same vehicle.
According to the arrest report, the Jeep drifted in its lane and braked repeatedly approaching an intersection before deputies stopped it. On the bodycam video, Alcalde insists she is fine and says she is worried about Jimenez, who had already been arrested.
"I'm not meaning to do anything wrong. I'm way better," Alcalde tells the deputy. "Well, look. I just talked to you," he answers. "You were really drunk when I talked to you." "I know. I know. But I'm not now," she says. "It's a couple hours later," the deputy replies. "I understand. I'm really not," Alcalde says. "I promise you I'm not."
She was arrested on DUI-related charges after field sobriety exercises. Both women were booked into the Lake County Jail on DUI and refusal-to-submit charges, with bonds set at $2,000 each.
Who They Are
Alcalde identified her workplace as Pinecrest Lakes Academy, where she is listed as principal, according to WESH 2. Jimenez is principal at Pinecrest Academy Tavares, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Both are public charter schools in the Lake County area.
It is worth stating the obvious caveat: these are charges, not convictions, and the cases will play out in court. But the arrests put two school leaders in an uncomfortable spot heading into a new school year, and for the families whose children attend those campuses. Neither school had commented publicly at the time the video was released.
Sources
Fox News: Florida school principals face DUI charges after police traffic stops just hours apart
Image credit: Lake County Sheriff's Office
