ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A St. Johns County firefighter is arrested after being accused of driving drunk while a 4-year-old was in the backseat of his vehicle.
The firefighter has now been placed on leave, but originally investigators thought this was a domestic incident because people called 911 saying Adam Rodriguez was hitting a female passenger in a car.
Investigators said that turned out not to be the case and instead turned into a DUI investigation.
Deputies originally responded to a section of A1A near St. Augustine Beach around 1 a.m. Sunday over reports of a man battering his female passenger.
Deputies found the woman, who had gotten out of the car, and said there was no physical altercation.
Around the same time, police stopped a speeding driver, who turned out to be Rodriguez, and when the deputy who pulled him over approached the car he said he could, "Could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage," and said, "He had slurred speech."
The arrest report continued on to say that a 4-year-old child was still a passenger inside the vehicle and that the child was not restrained.
"This is the case of an individual who made the choice of consuming intoxicants, who chose to drive with a young child with them. We've seen cases like this in the past couple months," Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan, with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said.
The report also said that while Rodriguez was in the arresting deputy's cruiser, he was, "Crying and begging for ‘professional courtesy.' The defendant became upset and began yelling, ‘I guess there is no professional courtesy.'"
"He is a public safety official and responds to DUI crashes. I can't comment on his personal life. I don't know the individual personally, but obviously he will meet the same statutory requirements as anyone else who meets similar charges," Mulligan said.
The Sheriff's Office said Rodriguez could possibly face child endangerment charges in addition to the DUI.
When reached for a comment, St. Johns County Fire and Rescue Department Captain Jeremy Robshaw said that it's an ongoing investigation, but Rodriguez is placed on paid administrative leave pending results.