A man was charged with disorderly intoxication at a Tampa area Walmart. The man is accused of driving a motorized scooter around the store while drinking from an open container of alcohol.
The man allegedly knocked items off the shelves.
Disorderly intoxication is not merely public intoxication. In order to be charged with disorderly intoxication, you must be impaired AND must be doing some act that creates a danger to the community. It is questionable as to whether knocking items off of a shelf constitutes a danger to the community.
Disorderly intoxication is a frequently overcharged offense where officers mistake merely being drunk in public as disorderly intoxication.
Eric Matheny is a criminal defense attorney representing clients charged with disorderly intoxication in Miami-Dade and Broward.