A Florida father was arrested after deputies said they found him passed out in his pickup truck at a gas station with guns inside the vehicle and his 5-year-old son sitting in the backseat.
Patrick Voegtly, 26, was parked next to a gas pump in Plant City on May 14 when the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a person down.
Deputies arrived around 7:57 p.m. and found Voegtly asleep in the driver’s seat, according to authorities.
Bodycam footage from the incident reportedly shows a deputy walking up to the truck and spotting a gun near Voegtly. The deputy quickly grabbed the weapon before waking him up.
Once Voegtly was awake, the deputy asked him to step out of the vehicle. Authorities said another firearm was then removed from his pocket.
Voegtly’s young son reportedly told the deputy his father was “just sleeping.”
As Voegtly got out of the truck, the deputy placed him in handcuffs. Voegtly appeared to resist and yelled, “My son is behind me.”
The deputy responded, “I get that. You have guns on you.”
The child could reportedly be heard crying in the background during the arrest.
Voegtly was taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence, child neglect, and improper exhibition of a firearm.
The sheriff’s office said Voegtly refused to perform field sobriety exercises but agreed to provide a breath sample. Authorities said his blood alcohol content was more than twice Florida’s legal limit of 0.08.
Deputies also noted signs of impairment, including glassy eyes and slurred speech.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the situation could have ended far worse.
“This reckless decision could have ended in tragedy,” Chronister said. “Driving under the influence is dangerous enough, but doing so with a child in the vehicle while armed shows a complete disregard for the safety of others.”
He added that deputies were able to step in before anyone was seriously hurt.
Voegtly was released from the Hillsborough County Jail after posting bond on May 16. It was not immediately clear whose custody the child was placed in after the arrest.
The case is the latest in a series of troubling DUI arrests in Florida involving children in vehicles.
In February 2025, another Florida father, James King, was charged with DUI after he was allegedly found driving intoxicated in Winter Park with his underage son in the car. The child reportedly asked him to pull over before calling for help.
That same weekend, Andrew Soto, 33, was also arrested after allegedly driving under the influence with a child in a car seat.
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