OCALA, FL – It started off like every other morning at Liberty Middle School in Ocala, Florida. That is until mom ran over the traffic cone dropping her kids off, raising the suspicion of the nearby school resource officer, Shelby Roberts. Officer Roberts politely told the driver she ran over her traffic cone and became instantly aware that the driver was drunk.
“I’m just trying to drop off my kids,” she told the officer.
“How much have you had to drink today?” Roberts said. The driver replied, nothing, I’m just sad. Roberts even gave the drive the courtesy of waiting until all the parents and students to leave to avoid the embarrassement of being arrested at school.
That’s when the woman began arguing with Officer Roberts, exerting her rights as duly appointed Karen.
On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, Erin Rodriguez was arrested for Driving Under the Influence with a Minor in the Vehicle at Liberty Middle School.
School Resource Officer (SRO) Shelby Roberts was notified of a woman who was having issues driving in the parent drop off line. Several witnesses advised they observed Rodriguez struggling to stay in the car line, running over several parking lot cones, and appeared to be falling asleep behind the wheel while in the drop off line at the school.
SRO Roberts approached Rodriguez in an attempt to find out what was going on. When asked for her driver’s license, she was too intoxicated to provided her driver’s license and instead provided a random card to SRO Roberts. Rodriguez advised she was just upset and had not been drinking, but the smell of alcohol on her breath and failure to speak without slurring told another story.
Rodriguez denied all of the driving mistakes she made, however the parking cone she said she “did not” hit was lodged under her vehicle. Thankfully it was just a cone and not a child. Rodriguez became verbally aggressive when SRO Roberts called for assistance with her DUI investigation and claimed lies were being told about her. After further aggression and refusal to remain calm,
SRO Roberts detained Rodriguez in handcuffs until Deputy Hunter Osborne arrived.
“Rodriguez could have hurt or killed any number of students and/or staff when she made the decision to drive drunk to the school. She was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail,” the Sheriff’s department said in a statement.