‘Irresponsible’: 2 DCF employees arrested for DUI, suspended license in Polk County, deputies say

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Two employees with the Florida Department of Children and Families were arrested just a day apart, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, deputies responded to a single-vehicle crash on Saddle Creek Road in Lakeland, after the driver crashed into a utility pole.

The driver, Evelyn Ross, 47, of Auburndale, told the deputy she “made a bad choice and had had a lot to drink,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Ross had bloodshot eyes, a strong odor of alcohol, and failed her sobriety tests. Her blood alcohol content levels were 0.197 and 0.190.

Ross was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, before being transferred to the Polk County Processing Center. She was charged with DUI over 0.15 and DUI with property damage.

On Monday afternoon around 1 p.m., another Polk County deputy pulled over a vehicle on Highway 17 in Bartow after learning the owner of the vehicle had a suspended license.

Jayla Rae Robinson, 22, of Lakeland, handed her license over to the deputy, admitting she had been pulled over two days before and had been issued a citation. She also had a 15-year-old in her car who she was “transporting to court.”

Robinson was arrested for knowingly driving with a suspended or revoked license. The teenage passenger was picked up by another DCF employee to take them to court.

“We take DUI and DWLSR offenses very seriously, especially when the suspects are people in a position of trust in the community,” Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Driving children around for work after already being cited for driving with a suspended license is irresponsible. And driving and crashing a car under the influence of alcohol sets a very poor example.”

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