Holiday woman held on DUI, drug charges

An Amscot Financial employee noticed the woman apparently passed out and slumped over the wheel of her car in the wee hours Sunday and then called for help 45 minutes after first seeing her, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.

Shortly after, troopers arrested a 44-year-old, who told the highway patrol she was an investigator and researcher for the Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office on charges of driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and trafficking hydrocodone. The woman did not work for the state attorney's office.

Caryn Lynette Schonscheck, of 5339 Lark Lane, was being held Monday at the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $300. According to her jail record, she for some reason refused to sign paperwork allowing her to be released on her own recognizance instead of posting bail.

According to a highway patrol report, Schonscheck was passed out behind the wheel of her 2005 Hyundai with the motor running and still in gear at 1:50 a.m. outside the Amscot at 3416 U.S. 19. Two law enforcement officers who were first on scene noted that her balance was unsteady and she had "extremely slurred speech."

Schonscheck told them, according to a report, that she had low blood sugar and that's why she seemed impaired. Pasco Fire Rescue paramedics, however, checked her blood sugar which was normal, a report states.

A trooper had Schonscheck do field sobriety checks on which she performed poorly, often swaying and nearly falling asleep while standing, the report states. She reportedly told the trooper she's had numerous back surgeries and takes a lot of prescription medicine for the pain but she said she wasn't in any pain while outside Amscot.

She declined to give a urine sample.

"No, because I have a bunch of prescription drugs in my system," she told the trooper. "... I take a lot of medication for my back."

Troopers found five prescription medicine bottles on her and one was for her husband, the report states. She said her husband gives her the hydrocodone. She had 41 hydrocodone pills in one bottle and 11 in another bottle, the report states. She also had Vicodin, Xanax, diazepam and Soma, according to the report.