ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was arrested Sunday after crashing into an unmarked patrol vehicle while driving under the influence, according to Florida Highway Patrol officials.
Authorities said troopers were called to the scene of the crash at the intersection of Orange Blossom Trail and Central Florida Parkway at 1:46 a.m.
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Officials said that when an FHP trooper arrived, he found Rida Boualam, 45, had crashed a 1999 Toyota Camry into a 2008 Jeep Cherokee.
Authorities said that Jeep Cherokee is an unmarked Orange County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle which contained four OCSO deputies. One of those deputies was taken to the Hunter's Creek emergency room with minor injuries.
Officials said Boualam was the only person in the Camry. They also said there was the there was a nearly empty open container of Corona beer on the car's passenger side floorboard.
Boualam's arrest report said the FHP trooper interviewing Boualam smelled a "strong odor of alcohol" on his breath. Boualam then complained of neck pain and troopers permitted him to go to the Hunter Creek Emergency Room, according to the report.
Around 3:42 a.m, after Boualam was medically cleared, troopers said his eyes were glassy and bloodshot.
Boualam told troopers he had consumed two Heineken beers before driving and said the open Corona beer was not from Sunday, according to the arrest report.
More than two hours after the crash had happened, troopers said they conducted three field sobriety exercises on Boualam. Troopers said he performed poorly in these exercises and frequently began before instructions were given to start.
After the exercises were conducted, authorities said Boualam was arrested on DUI property damage charges. They said he is also charged with careless driving due to the crash itself.
Troopers said that when they administered an Intoxilyzer test, Boualam blew a 0.154 and then a 0.153 three minutes later.