Gainesville Police Department K9 Justice was not injured in the incident, officials said.

Police spelled out their case against Lester C., 45, of Gainesville, in a 10-page arrest report. The report shows that Lester was booked into the Alachua County jail on the following charges: aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, child abuse, resisting arrest with violence, striking a police animal, burglary of an occupied burglary, grand theft auto and two counts of DUI and then leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.

Lester also was wanted by the Florida Parole Commission for violating his parole in a grand theft auto case.

Lester’s latest problems began late Friday on Waldo Road, where witnesses said he punched a woman to end a dispute with her. The witnesses also said Lester fled the scene in a red pickup shortly before police arrived.

K-9 Officer Charles Owens spotted the truck headed north on Waldo Road and asked dispatchers to check the tag. A state crime computer report showed the truck was stolen out of Jacksonville.

Owens said he tried to pull Lester over but that Lester continued north until he made a west turn on Northeast 31st Avenue. During the chase, Owens spotted two people inside the truck with Lester– a woman and a child.

Supervisors approved pursuing the vehicle out of concern that the woman and child might have been kidnapped, carjacked or in the truck against their will under some other circumstances.

During the chase, police said Lester led them through the Highland Court Manor and Carrol Estates neighborhoods.

Owens said the truck abruptly stopped at one point, then intentionally backed into Owens’ police vehicle.

The vehicle chase continued into Carroll Estates and ended when the truck crashed into a vacant home at 2109 NE 12th Terrace.

Police said Lester ran off and was tracked by Justice and Owens to the enclosed porch of a nearby home. Lester was found hiding under a barbecue grill.

That is when Lester threw a porch chair at Justice, Owens said, and hit the dog in the head. Justice continued to follow commands from Owens to apprehend Lester, even while Lester was throwing punches at Justice’s head.

Lester eventually surrendered, police said. He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida for treatment of dog bites and then booked into the Alachua County jail

The woman and child in the truck were not hurt but were shook up by the incident, investigators said.

Florida Department of Corrections Records show Lester was released from state prison on April 11 at the end of his seventh prison term since 1983. According to the records, Lester’s criminal history includes convictions for robbery with a deadly weapon, drug sales, burglary, grand theft auto, trafficking in stolen property and driving without a license.

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Duncan, 48, a former assistant public defender and a former director of economic development known for charitable and civic works, could be sentenced Monday to as many as 15 years in prison in the death of Herbert “Steve” Muller, 61.

In a two-page sentencing memorandum, Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy urged Circuit Judge Michael Takac to impose a 12 1/2-year sentence and to “not be swayed” by Duncan’s civic involvement. She said state law does not permit a judge to deviate from sentencing guidelines for “those acts.”

Duncan’s attorneys, however, recommend four years in prison and 10 years of probation, according to their memorandum, which lists a long string of the lawyer’s charitable activities. Four years is the statutory minimum prison sentence that can be imposed.

I’m not saying Bruce Duncan is guilty, but everyone should be treated the same in a court of law. This is ridiculous.

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The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies will join forces to beef up the night’s DUI patrol beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday and ending at 4 a.m. Sunday, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

The Gainesville Police Department, University Police, High Springs Police Department, Alachua Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol will also be involved in the nighttime patrol.

“We want to make sure everybody gets home from the game safely,” said Art Forgey, ASO public information officer.

With crowds of Gators and Volunteers fans coming to Gainesville for the UF football match against the University of Tennessee, people are more likely to engage in alcohol-related activities such as partying, he said.

The Saturday night patrol will not include any checkpoints, Forgey said.

An increased number of officers will, however, be patrolling the area during the DUI detail, he said.

Officers assigned to this patrol will be concentrating their efforts on spotting and handling any alcohol-related problems they encounter during the night, he said.

They will be watching for drunken drivers especially, who would be endangering themselves as well as others on the roads, Forgey said.

The patrolling officers will also deal with issues like alcohol possession by minors and open container violations.

Alcohol-targeting details like the one planned for Saturday are held year-round by various area law enforcement agencies, he said.

Law enforcement departments throughout Alachua County coordinate their efforts on these occasions because drunken driving affects all of their jurisdictions, Forgey said.

The University Police Department, Gainesville Police Department and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office will also be handling their gameday duties Saturday in addition to participating in the DUI patrol.

The agencies’ employees will monitor events at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during the UF versus University of Tennessee match and will also handle issues that arise on campus before and after the game.

The game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.

If you’ve already been accused of DUI in Gainesville or elsewhere in Alachua County, it’s very important that you quickly contact an Alachua County DUI attorney at Musca Law. We can discuss your legal options, completely free of charge.

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Writing in the current issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, University of Florida researchers found that about 6 percent of adolescents whose parents drank even sporadically reported driving under the influence at age 21, compared with just 2 percent of those whose parents did not imbibe.

“The main idea is that parents’ alcohol use has an effect on their kids’ behavior,” said Mildred Maldonado-Molina, an associate professor of health outcomes and policy with the UF College of Medicine and the lead author of the paper. “It’s important for parents to know that their behavior has an effect not only at that developmental age when their kids are adolescents, but also on their future behavior as young adults.”

It’s typical for parents to worry about the influence of their children’s friends and peers, and the study shows that peer behavior can have an effect, particularly on kids who aren’t exposed to alcohol at home. Having friends who drink alcohol was a risk factor for driving under the influence for teens whose parents did not drink. Also, kids whose parents and peers consumed alcoholic beverages were especially at risk for driving under the influence. About 11 percent of these teens reported driving under the influence in their 20s.

But when it comes to influence, parents seem to have more sway than they probably realize, Maldonado-Molina said. According to the study, if a teen’s parents were drinkers, what their peers did had less of an impact, though the relationship between peer and parental influence is complex, she said.

“I think it is really important to understand the influence of parents and peers,” said Tara Kelley-Baker, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation who was not involved with the study. “Parents must understand the influence they have on their children. Some parents just assume they have lost their influence or that they never had it. Research has shown more and more that this is not the case.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 10,000 people die because of drunken driving each year.

For the study, UF researchers examined data from nearly 10,000 adolescents that was collected as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The study initially collected data from teens and their parents and then surveyed the children again seven years later.

The influence of peers and parents seemed to affect men and women the same way. The researchers found no significant difference in risk factors between the genders, a surprising discovery. Not as much is known about women and DUI because most studies look at official records and arrests and women are less likely to be charged with DUI than men, though the gap is closing, Maldonado-Molina said.

“Their risk factors are similar and that calls for attention when developing interventions and prevention efforts,” Maldonado-Molina says.

When it comes to curbing DUI, prevention efforts need to start before age 15 to help instill the consequences of getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol, the researchers say. And education efforts need to include not only children, but their parents as well.

“The home is a really important source for these kids,” Maldonado-Molina said. “(Parents’) may not perceive their drinking as negative, but it influences what is acceptable behavior.”

Let’s not forget that not all Alachua County DUI arrests are justified. If you’ve been charged with DUI in Gainesville or a surrounding area, contact a Gainesville DUI lawyer at Musca Law today to discuss your options at this critical time.

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The checkpoint was conducted at 3300 W. University Ave. from 9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and involved GPD’s traffic safety team and personnel from the Alachua County Sheriff’s office, Florida Highway Patrol, University of Florida Police and the

Alachua Police Department.

In addition to the DUI arrests, police made one drug arrest and one warrant arrest. They issued 88 non-moving traffic citations, 17 moving traffic citations and six criminal traffic citations. Police also issued four warnings.

“These results indicate that the checkpoint was successful in identifying violations both moving and non-moving,” Senn said in a press release. “In addition, arrests were made further indicating that drivers that shouldn’t have been driving were arrested and removed from driving, thus keeping our roadways and citizens safe.”

Usually, because DUI checkpoints surely can not be a justified practice according to The Constitution, a DUI arrest arising in this nature can be successfully challenged in court. However, anyone charged with DUI, whether or not the arrest happened at a DUI checkpoint, needs to contact a Gainesville DUI lawyer ASAP to discuss the legal process of saving your driver’s license and avoiding being convicted. Call 352-397-9915 for a free legal consultation.

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Authorities say a Chevrolet pickup was heading north on U.S. 41, while a Chevy Camero was in the opposite direction in the same roadway.

The driver of the Camero lost control of the vehicle, which officials said rotated in the northbound lane, and the front of the pickup slammed into the right side of the car.

Both drivers of the vehicles — a man in the pickup and a woman in the car — were transported to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Three passengers from the pickup were taken to Munroe Regional Medical Center.

Officials said the driver of the Camero was in critical condition, and the driver of the pickup was in serious condition.

The three occupants from the pickup had non-life threatening injuries, officials said.

It was raining at the time of the crash, which occurred on U.S. 41 near Southwest 36th Street, officials said. The rain may have been a contributing factor in the accident, they said. Police continue to investigate.

It’s not uncommon for police to charge you with DUI on a later date. For this reason, anyone who suspects they could be charged with DUI would be wise in contacting a Gainesville DUI defense lawyer at Musca Law to discuss their unique circumstances. Call 352-397-9915 right now for a free consultation.

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The other driver involved — who was driving a Cadillac SUV — was not stopped by police during the three-block-long race.

An officer with the University of Florida Police Department was conducting a security check shortly after 1 a.m. on the Human Resources Building at 903 W. University Ave. when she noticed a Mitsubishi being driven by Terrance L., 24.

Officer Kelly Hogan said she fell in behind the westbound Mitsubishi because it did not have a visible tag.

Hogan said the Mitsubishi was in the right lane at the light at 1000 W. University Ave. and the Cadillac was in the left lane when she heard the driver of the Mitsubishi say to the Cadillac driver: “Ready? Let’s go!”

In her report, Hogan wrote: “As the traffic light turned green, both vehicles rapidly accelerated, spinning their tires in an effort to race one another.”

Hogan said she turned on her emergency lights and pulled over the Mitsubishi in the Holiday Inn parking lot at 1300 W. University Ave.

Driving the Mitsubishi was Terrance, who has a Georgia address but told police he works as a bartender in Gainesville.

After providing blood Terrance samples of .159 and .166, and after his car was searched, Terrance was charged with DUI, street racing, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Terrance was booked into the Alachua County jail.

If you’ve too been charged with DUI in Gainesville or elsewhere in Alachua County, our attorneys can probably help you save you license and avoid being convicted in criminal court. However, we ask that you contact us promptly as our early intervention in your case can be vital to it’s outcome. Call 352-397-9915 right now for a free phone consultation with a Gainesville DUI attorney at our firm.

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It didn’t, and Carl isn’t really part of the Florida Gators.

And, considering the recent illegal substance “issue” in Gainesville, now may not be the best time to create that new alias.

When in the face of a DUI charge, it’s always best to follow suit and then contact a Gainesville DUI defense lawyer if you are charged. Lying, fleeing, etc. will usually only lead to further criminal charges.

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The officer stopped the woman’s car after he saw her driving erratically in Gainesville at about 7:30 p.m.

The woman burst into tears after the handcuffs were slapped on her wrist, then offered the money, according to police.

She was charged with DUI, driving on a suspended license, driving an uninsured vehicle and failure to maintain lane, police said.

If you’ve too been charged with DUI Gainesville or elsewhere in Alachua County, it’s very important that you contact an attorney to discuss the retention of your driver’s license and, more importantly, your legal defense in criminal court. Contact a Gainesville DUI attorney at Musca Law today.

Brittan M., 32, was charged with DUI involving property damage following the incident shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Daniel Qualman found Brittan asleep at the wheel of the car, which appeared to have gone through the intersection, over a curb and then through some bushes before hitting a parked car.

Brittan refused to submit a breath sample. He was arrested for DUI on the basis of his poor performance on field sobriety tests, his inability to stand without swaying and the smell of alcohol coming from his mouth when he spoke, Qualman wrote in the arrest report.

Alachua County School District spokeswoman Jackie Johnson said Brittan has been a volunteer offensive coordinator for the Gainesville High School football team. His status as a volunteer is under review, Johnson said, and will be determined as other cases have been in the past — on a case-by-case basis.

DUI is never a charge, whatever the circumstances, to be taken lightly, but something such as property damage could mean a lot worse penalties if you are convicted. For this reason, Brittan would be well advised in contacting a Gainesville DUI attorney at Musca Law. Our team of experienced lawyers specializes in successfully defending the legal rights of people accused of DUI throughout Alachua County. Call us at 352-397-9915 right now.

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