A 23-year-old Lakeland woman was arrested on a DUI charge after police said she broadcasted herself on Periscope, a live video streaming platform, driving drunk.



Lakeland police said two people watching the video feed called 911 to alert them of the situation.

Police report Whitney Beall was out drinking on Friday night and using her cell phone to broadcast what she was doing for the whole world to see on Periscope.

At some point they said Beall got into her car and said, “I’m driving home drunk.”

Police provided reporters with recordings of the video feed they downloaded from the Internet. On the videos, Beall could be heard many times announcing that she was driving drunk.

Beall also stated that she believed dozens of people were watching her on Periscope. "Fifty-seven people. Oh my God I didn't know I'd get this many people,” she could be heard saying on the video.

"She was out of it, and it was obvious by watching that live streaming video how bad she was,” said Lakeland police sergeant Gary Gross.

At some point, two worried Periscope viewers called 911 to express their concerns.

"I just saw this girl on periscope driving drunk. She doesn't know where she is,” said one of the callers.

Gross said that an alert patrol officer downloaded the Periscope app to his phone and started to watch the video feed. He was able to figure out Beall’s location and she was pulled over on Carpenters Way. Officers said she failed a field sobriety test.

"Thank God somebody saw this and they called in,” said Gross.

Beall was arrested and charged with DUI. She was later transported to the Polk County Jail.

Bay News 9 went to Beall’s home to see if she would talk to us for our story. A woman at the home said no one would be commenting.