INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — If you’re driving almost 20 mph over the speed limit and tell the deputy who stops you that you’re “just going with the flow of traffic,” the law man might give you a warning.

But when it’s way past midnight and no other vehicle is on the road, the deputy may not buy that reasoning.

Something like that went down about 1:33 a.m. Feb. 20 in the 6100 block of U.S. 1 as an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy traveled north, according to an arrest affidavit.

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The deputy reported a vehicle later identified as a Dodge Durango approached from the rear at speeds that seemed greater than the 55 mph limit.

No other cars were behind or in front of the deputy’s vehicle, the report states.

Using a radar, the deputy measured the Dodge’s speed at 73 mph.

After being pulled over, the 33-year-old driver of the Dodge told the deputy “he was just going with the flow of traffic.”

“I informed (him) that the only vehicle on the roadway was me and that I was not traveling 73 mph,” the affidavit states.

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The situation for the driver, a Vero Beach resident, likely did not improve when the deputy reported smelling booze.

The driver said he was a bartender at an Irish pub in Vero Beach, and imbibed two shots of peppermint schnapps at work.

After the driver performed field sobriety exercises, the deputy suspected it was more than that.

He was jailed on a DUI charge and taken to the Indian River County Jail where breath tests measured his blood alcohol content at 0.15 and 0.152 – almost twice the legal limit of 0.08.

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. He also covers strange, wild and weird Treasure Coast crimes in “Off The Beat.” Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-692-8936. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

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