Two bicycle riders charged with DUI on same day

SPRING HILL — Robert Steudl knew he had too much to drink. Hoping to do the responsible thing, Steudl took a bicycle home from the Pickled Parrot bar early Tuesday.

Problem is, authorities say, Steudl was also too tipsy to ride a bike legally.

In a peculiar combination of charges and timing, Steudl was actually one of two men arrested that morning in Spring Hill for driving under the influence while on a bike. The other man arrested, Oswaldo Davila, 46, of Spring Hill, faces his second charge of riding his bicycle while drunk in the past 10 years.

"That is very unusual," said Sgt. Donna Black, a spokeswoman with the Sheriff's Office. "But it's kind of a misnomer for people who think they can leave their car at home and ride a bike or operate a boat while drunk. It's far from the truth."

Under Florida law, motorists with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or above are presumed to be impaired. A motor vehicle is defined as any self-propelled vehicle, including a bicycle, motorized scooter and an assistive mobility device.

The State Attorney's Office does not track the circumstances in specific DUI cases but Black could not think of any recent cases of bike DUI.

The St. Petersburg Times archives note no other arrests of this type in Hernando County since Davila's in February 1999.

Elsewhere, however, a New Port Richey woman was charged with DUI while riding a bicycle in December 1991 and a Citrus County woman faced a similar charge in May 1990. Also, a Spring Hill woman was charged with drunken driving after her motorized wheelchair struck a van in January 2004.

But two such arrests in one night?

"That's pretty unique," said Peyton Hyslop, a Brooksville lawyer and former county judge. "Probably, over the years, I bet we didn't even average two a year."

The unusual Tuesday morning started shortly after midnight, when a Hernando deputy heading west on Forest Oaks Boulevard saw three vehicles in front of him driving very slowly. The deputy soon saw that the cars were being slowed by Davila, who was riding his bike in the middle of the westbound lane with no lights or reflective equipment.

According to the report, Davila was swerving all over the road and had difficulty maintaining balance. Davila also had "bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech ... and the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage," the report said.

Davila allegedly started yelling at the deputy and claimed that he was being harassed. During the stop, the report said, Davila performed a couple of field sobriety exercises poorly and was taken into custody.

About three hours later, another deputy saw Steudl, 46, riding his bicycle in the middle of a westbound lane on Spring Hill Drive. The bike had no lights, the report said, and a westbound car had to swerve to avoid hitting Steudl.

The deputy made a traffic stop and found that Steudl had "red, watery eyes," smelled of alcohol and had a number of bumps and bruises on his left cheek, right knuckles and left elbow. Steudl did not admit to falling off of the bicycle but said that it was possible, the report said.

Steudl told the deputy that he left the Pickled Parrot bar on U.S. 19 and was heading to his home on Strauss Street, the report said. The deputy noted that Steudl thought that he was on Deltona Boulevard when he was actually on Spring Hill Drive.

After failing a series of field sobriety exercises, Steudl was taken to the county jail.

There, Steudl's breath samples came to 0.265 and 0.266 percent — more than three times the point of presumed impairment.

As of Wednesday afternoon, both men remained in custody at the Hernando County Jail.

Davila faces charges of DUI, refusal to submit to a breath test and refusal to sign his citation. He was held in lieu of $55,500 bail. Steudl was charged only with DUI and was held in lieu of $10,000 bail.