Army Girl Arrested for DUI After Knocking Down Traffic Cones

Around 2:04 AM on February 24, 2024, Officer Joshua Baar with the Tampa Police Department arrived on scene inside the Rick Thomas Parking Garage at 810 Frederic H. Spaulding Drive to conduct a DUI investigation. This was on property belong to the University of Tampa. Officer Baa was informed that the driver of the Hyundai, identified as 22-year-old Ainsley Fitzgerald, was driving in the wrong direction past a Do Not Enter sign, and that she had knocked down multiple traffic cones.

As Officer Baar was speaking with her, he observed indicators of impairment and detected the odor of alcohol. She told the officer that she had a glass of wine earlier that evening. Based on his suspicion of impairment, Ainsley was asked to exit the vehicle and perform field sobriety exercises.

Officer Barlaug started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test. During the Walk and Turn test, Ainsley did not touch heel-to-toe on each step and turned improperly. The final exercise was the One Leg Stand test, and Ainsley failed to raise her foot in the proper fashion and did not accurately estimate the passage of 30 seconds.

Based on her erratic driving, her indicators of impairment, the odor of alcohol, her admission to consuming alcohol earlier that evening, and her inability to adequately perform the field sobriety exercises, Ainsley was placed under arrest for driving under the influence. A search of the vehicle incident to arrest yielded the presence of multiple open containers. After she was placed under arrest, Ainsley told the officer that she was in the Army Reserves. Ainsley was transported by Officer Barlaug to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for further processing. At the jail, she refused to submit to a breath test. She was charged with a DUI (316.193(1)(a)) and eventually released pending her court appearance.

----------------------------------------------------

Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Our videos are shared for educational and news gathering purposes.

Our content complies with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained by public records requests pursuant The Florida Public Records Law. Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.