A drunk driving suspect in a golf cart led law enforcement on a wild chase down County Road 466 in The Villages.

Christopher Scott Esdale, 21, who lives at 2367 Unity Terrace in the Village of Hadley, was driving a red golf cart at 1 a.m. Friday taking up both lanes of traffic on County Road 466 near the Morse family compound.

A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy spotted the golf cart and began pursuing it, as golf carts are not permitted on County Road 466.

Esdale maneuvered the golf cart off County Road 466 and onto the Laurel Manor Trail multi-modal path. The deputy activated his lights and siren, but Esdale continued to flee. He got back onto County Road 466, turned onto Morse Boulevard and began heading for Lake Sumter Landing. The deputy, who had exited his squad car, yelled at the Cape Cod, Mass. native and ordered him to stop. Esdale drove toward the deputy, who forcibly removed Esdale from the golf cart and took him to the ground.

Esdale had “a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” according to the arrest report. The deputy found a bottle of Canadian Mist which had fallen from the golf cart.

Esdale performed poorly in field sobriety exercises. He provided breath samples that registered .110 and .116 blood alcohol content.

He was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, fleeing from law enforcement and resisting arrest. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $6,500 bond.