He was going west in the eastbound lanes. His driving got worse after the cop stopped him

A Sebastian man managed to drive himself into jail both forward and in reverse, police say.

Forward: Driving the wrong way down a county road. In reverse: backing into a police cruiser.

According to an arrest report, while running a radar check early Sunday morning, a Sebastian police officer Tegpreet Singh saw a black two-door car heading west and down along Indian River County Road 512. Problem was, the car was in the eastbound lanes.

Singh’s report says he began following with lights in the 200 block and the driver stopped in the 400 block. As Singh began talking to the driver, 43-year-old Maximino Hernandez, he said Hernandez started an automotive moonwalk.

“I yelled at the driver to place his vehicle in park and to stop the vehicle, but the driver just started at me and ignored the commands,” Singh wrote. “The result of this ended in the driver’s vehicle backing into my marked patrol car.”

He estimated Hernandez’s car got $250 worth of damage while the patrol car, protected by the push bar, received none.

Hernandez stepped out of the car on Singh’s request, and produced a Farmworker Association identification, but couldn’t produce a driver’s license. At least, not one from Florida or any other U.S. state or territory — he told Singh and another officer he had a Mexico driver’s license.

He also had, according to Singh, “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from his person” and red, glassy eyes. After failing the field sobriety tests, the report says, Hernandez blew a .126 and .123 blood alcohol count, well over the .08 legal limit.

Hernandez was arrested on charges of misdemeanor DUI with property damage and driving without a license, a violation that shows up regularly in Indian River County’s daily arrest report records. He posted $1,500 bond Sunday afternoon.

This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 9:00 AM.