Will Greenlee

will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — State Rep. Cary Pigman was arrested early Friday morning on a DUI charge after a Florida Highway Patrol trooper spotted his Jeep drifting on Florida’s Turnpike late Thursday night, records show.

The Republican lawmaker represents western St. Lucie County, as well as Glades, Highlands and Okeechobee counties.

Breath tests measured Pigman’s blood alcohol content at 0.14 and 0.15 percent, which are above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. His arraignment is scheduled for March 31.

A trooper saw an open wine bottle in the front passenger seat after stopping the 58-year-old Avon Park resident’s vehicle at or near the Port St. Lucie Service Plaza/Fort Pierce.

Pigman's office released a statement Friday evening.

"Last night I was pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol on the Turnpike in St. Lucie County after a long drive back from Tallahassee," he said in the release. "I was charged with driving under the influence. I want to apologize to my family, my constituents, and my colleagues in the Legislature, for the embarrassment this has caused me and them."

A trooper at the Fort Drum Service Plaza, more than 30 miles north of Fort Pierce, initially was dispatched to a reckless vehicle call near the Fort Drum plaza. The trooper spotted a vehicle matching the description about 3 miles south of Okeechobee Road in St. Lucie County.

Another trooper already was behind the vehicle watching it.

“I could observe the vehicle drifting into the right paved shoulder and drifted back into the roadway crossing center line into the left lane on three different occasion(s),” the affidavit states.

They stopped the vehicle, which Pigman was driving. He was alone.

Investigators smelled alcohol in the vehicle.

Asked if everything was OK, Pigman said, “Yes.” He said he was traveling to Okeechobee County to see his family.

He smelled of alcohol but denied drinking, according to his arrest report.

During one field sobriety exercise, Pigman was described as “so off balance he almost fell while attempting to conduct all three tasks.” He stumbled and lost his balance in another test, and didn’t follow instructions in another.

Investigators administered breath tests on Pigman at the St. Lucie County Jail about 1:45 a.m. Friday.

Pigman was released from St. Lucie County Jail about 8:15 a.m. Friday on $750 bond, officials said. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the St. Lucie County Courthouse in Fort Pierce.