OCALA. Fla. – An Ocala father told deputies his three young children were home alone when he was stopped and arrested after he was driving drunk while leading authorities on a chase early Tuesday morning, deputies said.
"Not only was he putting himself and the driver's in danger," said Marion County Sheriff's public information Director Paul Bloom. "But by leaving these children at home, just the risk, the potential there is overwhelming."
The Dunnellon Police Department was already being led on a chase on west Highway 40 toward Ocala by Marc Tyson, 29, when Marion County deputies received a call about a reckless driver near Dunnellon, according to deputies.
Deputies arrived to the Dunnellon area and began assisting with the pursuit, but Tyson refused to stop, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"He was going against traffic, going eastbound in the westbound lanes, forcing cars off the road," Bloom said.
Deputies said Tyson was swerving erratically across the road and drove eastbound in the westbound lanes against traffic. Deputies were later able to stop Tyson's vehicle by using stop sticks to flatten his tires and arrest him around 3:30 a.m.
As Tyson was being arrested, he told deputies his three children had been home alone since 10:30 p.m., five hours prior to his arrest, the Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies immediately went to Tyson's home and found the three children, two 4-year-olds and a 5-month-old, alone and placed them into the care of a family member, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Tyson was booked into the Marion County Jail, where his blood alcohol level was 0.202, deputies said. He was charged with driving under the influence, fleeing and eluding an officer, resisting an officer and three counts of child neglect and is being held on $13,000 bond, deputies said.