Ex-PSC member Edgar faces DUI rap in crash

Former commissioner charged with hitting SUV, fleeing the scene.

Lisa Edgar, who was the longe s t - s e r v i n g member o f t h e F l o r i d a P u b l i c S e r v i c e C o mmission when she chose not to seek another term last year, was arrested Saturday in Tallahassee on charges of DUI, property damage, hit-and-run and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.

Edgar, 53, is set to be arraigned June 1 in Leon County. Known as a utilit y-friendly regulator, she ended 12 years of service on the PSC in the $131,000-a-year position in December, and was appointed director of the Florida Park Service. She resigned in February after two months, citing family-related issues.

After being arrested, handcuffed and booked into the Leon County Jail, Edgar refused to take a Breathalyzer test, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report. She was released without any bail being set.

On Monday, a n a d d i t i o n a l charge was filed against Edgar of failure to drive within a single lane.

Saturday evening, the Florida Highway Patrol was dispatched to a crash involving a gray Chevrolet SUV and a silver Mercedes-Benz on Centerville Road south of Pisgah Church Road in Tallahassee. FHP Trooper Kyler Woodward wrote in the arrest report that before his arrival, he was advised the Mercedes-Benz had fled the scene.

The Chevy SUV had damage to its driver’s-side mirror, and its driver, Gregory Bontz, said as he was traveling south on Centerville Road, a Mercedes traveling northbound just ahead of him veered out of its lane and struck his vehicle’s mirror, FHP said.

The driver, later identified as Edgar, pulled onto the shoulder of the road, and Bontz told her she had hit his vehicle. She asked if she could help with something, then rolled up her window and left the scene, police said.

Woodward wrote that while he was speaking with Bontz, dispatch was receiving multiple calls about a vehicle that matched the description of the fleeing Mercedes that was southbound on Centerville Road and running multiple vehicles off the road.

The Leon County Sheriff ’s Office located Edgar, and Bontz identified her as the driver whose vehicle had hit his.

“As I approached the defendant who was still sitting behind the wheel ... she became uneasy and was acting very strange. As the defendant spoke to me, I noticed that her speech was slurred and thick tongued. I could smell a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Mrs. Lisa Edgar’s facial area,” Woodward wrote.

After he asked Edgar to step out of her vehicle, she said she wanted to speak with her husband. Edgar appeared to be unstable, and Woodward and another trooper had to assist her to keep her from falling.