Orlando DUI: Windemere Florida Cop Suspected of DUI

Published by Fleet Tilden, Esq. at February 13, 2010

Winter Springs Police stopped a marked city of Windermere patrol car shortly before 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning for suspicion of DUI. According to agency reports, Officer Kristie Fink, a reserve officer still in training with the city of Windermere, was spotted by a Winter Springs officer driving a silver Windermere police vehicle on Winter Springs Boulevard and followed it after seeing it turn abruptly into the George Towne neighborhood. After the stop, Fink smelled of alcohol and admitted she had been drinking but passed a field sobriety test, which did not require a breath test, a report states.

Windermere supervisor, Cpl. Carl Head, informed Winter Springs police that she had been pounding on the door of another Windermere officer’s home. Head said she appeared to be intoxicated and was driving a patrol car, a report stated. Fink also explained why she had been pounding on a fellow Windermere officer’s door: He was her boyfriend and they had been arguing, the report states.

“During my conversation with Fink she stated that she turned into the area because she was afraid that a police officer was behind her and she knew she had been drinking,” the report states. “I asked Ms. Fink how much she had to drink and she replied, ‘I had three beers and I know I should not have been driving.'” Fink told Winter Springs police officers that “she would do anything if we would let her go. Ms. Fink reported that she could lose her [law-enforcement] certification for this.”

Windermere Police Chief Dan Saylor said Fink, 33, had been suspended pending the outcome of an administrative investigation. Officially, you don’t drink and drive,” said Saylor, referring to statewide policies for police and municipal agencies which prohibit public employees from driving a publicly owned vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol. “No matter if it was one hour ago or 10 hours ago.”

By the time Windermere supervisors reached the scene, Fink had passed a field sobriety test. Head told police, “I can’t believe she passed the exercises, she had been drinking since 9 o’clock last night,” the report states.

If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, or if you have had your driver license suspended for a DUI, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Fleet Tilden, Esq.

Beginning in 1923, attorney John Tilden, Esq. established his law practice in Downtown Orlando with a full service law firm serving Central Florida residents. Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, attorney N. Fleetwood Tilden, Esq. began his Central Florida law practice after graduating from law school in 1993. After a career as an Assistant State Attorney prosecuting Central Florida criminal cases, the Law Office of Tilden Law was established. Practicing exclusively Criminal Defense, Mr. Tilden has handled over 5,000 criminal cases.