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FBI agent flees, charged with DUI

Police say the agent sped off when they tried to question her, and then led them on a chase before being detained.

By JANETTE NEUWAHL
Published July 22, 2004

An FBI agent has been charged with driving under the influence after Clearwater police tried to stop her at Cleveland and Osceola streets.

Police said they found Elaine Scott, 38, apparently asleep at the wheel of her car at the intersection stop light Saturday night.

Minutes earlier, around 8:30 p.m., police received a call for a hit-and-run on Devon Street, involving a car similar to the green Mini Cooper Scott was driving.

When officers Robert Wierzba and Steve Burch tapped on the window, police said, Scott woke up, appeared startled and refused to roll down her window.

Police say Scott sped away. The officers followed her four blocks east on Cleveland Street, until Scott was forced to stop at a red light. When she still refused to talk to the officers, they broke her car window. Police said Scott had a blood-alcohol level of 0.183 - more than twice the level at which Florida presumes impairment. She was arrested for DUI.

FBI agent Sara Oates of the bureau's Tampa office said the agency would conduct an investigation of Scott.

Police reports indicate that Scott was living in Largo, but had a permanent home in Oklahoma City, where she was on temporary assignment. Scott was booked into Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250 bail Saturday night and bonded out at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

[Last modified July 21, 2004, 23:21:14]