Police sergeant facing DUI charge

An Orlando Police Department sergeant was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk while attempting to pick his daughter up from afterschool care, an arrest report said.

At 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, deputies with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office responded to Choices in Learning Elementary School on the southwest corner of Central Winds Parkway and Hicks Avenue in Winter Springs in regards to a suspected impaired driver.

The arrest report said Anthony Lappas, 42, parked his truck in a through lane and blocked other vehicles from passing. Several school employees told investigators they believed Lappas may be under the influence and did not feel comfortable with him driving with a student in the truck.

Employees described Lappas as incomprehensible with bloodshot eyes and being “unsteady on his feet.”

According to the arrest affidavit, Lappas circled the parking lot and “violently” struck one of the concrete parking stop blocks.

The school’s principal notified a school resource deputy who briefed the Seminole County Sheriff ’s Office of the incident. The report said a Seminole County deputy administered several field sobriety exercises, of which Lappas agreed to participate in and failed.

Lappas was taken to the Seminole County John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a $500 bond. Two breath tests found his blood alcohol concentration to be 0.158% and 0.165%. In Florida, it is illegal to drive with a .08% BAC or higher. Lappas faces a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence with a BAC of 0.15% or higher with a person under 18 years old in the vehicle, according to the report.

He was placed on administrative leave with pay, pending an internal investigation of the incident, OPD said.

No other details, like how long Lappas served as an OPD officer, were released by the department.