Deputies: Wrong-way driver caught traveling eastbound in westbound lanes of I-4

LAKE MARY, Fla. - An accused wrong-way driver was arrested early Sunday morning after authorities said he traveled eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 4 (I-4) for nearly 19 miles, from Seminole County into Volusia County.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office says 22-year-old Parker Keith, of St. Cloud, was spotted driving a pickup truck in the wrong direction on I-4 near Longwood, around 3:21 a.m. 

Authorities believe Keith entered I-4 in Altamonte Springs and traveled quite a distance before helicopter surveillance video appears to show a road worker pulling out in front of Keith and stopping his truck on the inside lane of I-4, near Dirksen Drive in DeBary.  The road worker is seen jumping out of his vehicle and puncturing the tires to Keith's truck, the helicopter pilots observed. Still, Keith continued down the interstate.

A Volusia County deputy said he located Keith and attempted to stop him, but he was not successful.  Another law enforcement officer said he caught up with Keith in Deltona and deployed stop sticks near the interchange with Saxon Blvd.   That deputy was able to stop Parker and take him into custody.  The deputy "immediately detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage," an arrest affidavit states. 

According to the arrest report, the deputy asked Keith if he was drinking, and Keith "advised he was."  When asked what he was drinking, the deputy wrote that Keith told him he had consumed "three shots of Crown Royal."

Keith agreed to a field sobriety test, and upon taking a breath test, he registered a 0.152 percent, according to the arrest report (.08 percent is the legal limit in Florida). 

Based upon his field sobriety performance and other indicators, Keith was arrested on charges of fleeing and eluding and DUI. He was transported to the Volusia County Jail without incident. 

This story was written out of Lake Mary, Florida.