Man arrested for DUI in school zone 

A 55-year-old Marathon man was arrested for DUI — his third in the last 10 years — after he was stopped for speeding in a school zone near Sugarloaf School Thursday afternoon.

Robert Duane Johnston was charged with DUI/third in 10 years and DUI with blood alcohol content of .15 or higher. He was also cited for speeding.

Traffic Enforcement Unit Deputies Edward Swogger and Juan Martin-Reyes were conducting traffic enforcement on Crane Boulevard when they saw a red Dodge pickup truck traveling 34 mph in a 15 mph school zone. Both Deputies performed a traffic stop.

The truck smelled of alcohol. There was an open Budweiser® beer bottle in a cooler in the front cab. Johnston had slow speech. His eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy. Johnston refused to take field sobriety tests. He was placed in custody at that time.

An inspection revealed three more Budweiser bottles in the cooler as well as a 12-pack of Budweiser® behind the passenger seat. In the bed of the pickup truck there was another cooler with eight more Budweiser® beers on ice.

Johnston’s blood alcohol level was measured at .156 via the breath-sensing machine. The legal limit in Florida is .08.

Johnston was taken to jail.

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