Dover woman arrested for drunk driving after driving wrong way on I-75 in Tampa: FHP

TAMPA, Florida. – Authorities say a Hillsborough County woman was arrested early Monday morning for driving the wrong way on I-75 while under the influence of alcohol.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, around 1:55 a.m. Monday, a trooper was parked in a construction lane on I-75 South near mile marker 256 in Hillsborough County. He was then alerted to a wrong-way driver traveling north in the southbound lanes.

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As the wrong-way driver approached the construction site, a surveillance team was on site. The officer drove south past the team and noticed an SUV approaching.

According to FHP, the officer then turned on his hazard lights and siren and pulled his patrol car directly into the path of the car to stop it. The SUV slowly drove around the officer but then stopped due to oncoming traffic coming from the north.

The trooper then drove up behind the SUV and performed a precision immobilizer (PIT), successfully bringing it to a stop in the middle of the southbound lanes of I-75.

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According to FHP, troopers then removed the driver from the car and removed the SUV from the road. They identified the driver as Luz Del Carmen Munoz Banuelos, 37, of Dover.

When asked why she was driving on the wrong side of the road, she said she was just following her GPS. Officers noted that she had bloodshot, watery and glassy eyes and her breath smelled strongly of alcohol.

According to FHP, she performed poorly on sobriety exercises and was arrested for fleeing and driving under the influence. She was booked into Orient Road Jail.