Clearwater Elementary Teacher Accused Of Drinking And Driving

CLEARWATER, FL — A fifth-grade math and science teacher in Clearwater has been charged with driving under the influence after being pulled over by Polk County sheriff's deputies in Auburndale.

Lee Anne Huff, 50, a teacher at Leila Davis Elementary School, was arrested Friday at 2:30 a.m. after deputies were called to the entrance of the Hamptons Golf and Country Club. Deputies found a Volkswagen Beetle parked with its rear tire on the curb and Huff slumped over the steering wheel of the still-running car, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies said Huff had "bloodshot, watery eyes, and could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from her breath and heard her to have slurred speech.”

In the car’s center console cup holder was an open can of White Claw Hard Seltzer.

Huff's blood-alcohol level was 0.174 percent. The legal limit to be considered drunk in Florida is .08 percent.

“Teachers should be setting positive examples for their students and the community. Drinking and driving is the opposite of that. There is never an excuse to drink and drive. Please, take advantage of the many resources out there, and don’t drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.