Terwilliger teacher arrested for DUI after crash

Staff report

Updated on February 27 with information about Davis’s employment status.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Diana Patricia Davis, 67, was arrested last night and charged with driving under the influence after officers investigated a crash on NW 43rd Street.

At about 8:49 p.m. on February 25, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a crash in the 3700 block of NW 43rd Street, where there was a car facing northbound in the southbound lane that had driven into the median and hit a tree; the driver was reportedly pushing the gas pedal in an attempt to move the car, but it was disabled from the front-end damage. The officer reported that the vehicle had substantial front-end damage, and the front axle appeared to be broken. The officer also noted that a sign had been hit.

The arresting officer reported that the driver, identified as Davis, had “glossy eyes and strong slurred speech” and smelled strongly of alcohol. Davis reportedly said multiple times that she didn’t know what was going on and that she did not know anything about a crash. The officer reported that she swayed “in all directions” and had a hard time walking after she got out of the car.

In response to a question from an officer, Davis reportedly said she was a teacher at Terwilliger Elementary; her arrest report states that she is a second-grade teacher. She agreed to perform standard field sobriety exercises but reportedly performed poorly and eventually fell, leading the officers to discontinue the exercises.

While waiting for a female officer to arrive and search Davis, the officers placed her in a patrol car, where she reportedly said multiple times that she was a teacher at Terwilliger Elementary and had to be at work at 6:30 a.m., so they should just take her home. She reportedly said she’d been a teacher for 47 years and then said it had been 45 years; the officer reported that she went back and forth on those numbers multiple times.

At the jail, the arresting officer reported that Davis had urinated in the back of the patrol vehicle.

While waiting for the breath test, Davis reportedly said multiple times that they should take her back to her vehicle or take her home; she also reportedly said multiple times that she was not a bad person and wanted to go home.

Her breath tests reportedly measured at .201 g/210L and .198 g/210L (the legal limit is .08 g/210L).

Post Miranda, Davis reportedly said she understood her rights.

While being medically cleared, she reportedly said she had been going home on NW 39th Avenue at the time of the accident and that she’d had one martini at Ballyhoo.

Davis has been charged with driving under the influence with property damage. She has two previous local DUI convictions, with the most recent in 1999; she also has a DUI conviction in Georgia from 1993. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $10,000 and ordered that she be fitted with a Transdermal Alcohol Detection device before release.

Alachua County Public Schools Public Information Officer Jackie Johnson said Davis has been placed on administrative leave.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.