Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Trevor Maurice Wooden Jr., 35, was arrested early this morning after police said he drove while intoxicated with a three-year-old child in the vehicle and failed to properly secure the child.
According to a Gainesville Police Department officer, the incident began around 2 a.m. on June 26, when Wooden drove to Gumby’s at 2028 SW 34th Street and spoke with an employee in the parking lot. The employee and a security guard reportedly told the officer that Wooden appeared visibly impaired, describing red eyes, slurred speech, and stumbling. They also said there was no child seat in the vehicle and that Wooden removed the child from the back seat, placed the child in the front seat without a seatbelt, and then drove to the Hilton UF Hotel at 1714 SW 34th Street with a third witness.
When the officer later interviewed Wooden at the hotel, he reported telling Wooden that he was not free to leave. Wooden allegedly tried several times to close the door and also attempted to pick up the child and walk away. In the officer’s account, Wooden “was obviously too drunk to care for the child.”
After being read his Miranda rights, Wooden reportedly first claimed that he and the child had remained at the hotel the entire time and had never left. Police said he later changed that account, stating that he had consumed 2 ounces of tequila before driving to Gumby’s with the child and the third witness. Wooden reportedly said he did not go inside the restaurant and only spoke with the first witness in the parking lot, but he could not identify who drove the vehicle back to the hotel.
The third witness reportedly told police that Wooden drove her and the child to Gumby’s, where she went inside while Wooden spoke with the first witness outside. She said she drank shots of alcohol and bought pizza before returning to the vehicle. Although she reportedly said Wooden did not drive them back to the hotel, she was unable to say who did.
The child reportedly told the officer that Wooden had been driving and that he had placed her in the seat.
A fourth witness, who had been on the phone with the third witness, reportedly told the officer that she had seen Wooden driving under the influence with the child in his vehicle.
The officer reported that Wooden has two previous DUI convictions and has a suspended license.
Wooden has been charged with child neglect without causing great bodily harm and resisting an officer without violence. His bail will be set tomorrow.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
