After a hit-and-run crash, a Wesley Chapel man handed a can of deodorant to the police officer when asked for identification.

TAMPA, Fla. — A man was arrested on DUI charges Wednesday night after a hit-and-run crash on I-275 in Tampa, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Andros Garcia Maldaner, 39, of Wesley Chapel, is being charged with a DUI and has been issued citations for leaving the scene of a crash and backing into a patrol car.



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At 11:43 p.m., the Tampa Bay Regional Communications Center received an iPhone crash alert and a phone call about a red Tesla that had hit a guardrail on northbound I-275 near mile marker 57, according to the FHP arrest report.

Another call came in at 11:54 p.m., and the caller reported the Tesla was “traveling at such a high speed that the caller was losing visual of it, and the vehicle was swerving all over the roadway,” the report reads.

FHP troopers reportedly suspected that the driver was having medical issues or trouble with his car, or that he was driving under the influence.

Trooper Snyder caught up to the Tesla in Pasco County after 1 a.m., and Maldaner reportedly backed into his patrol car, causing minor damage to his car and the police cruiser.

When the trooper asked Maldaner for identification, he “handed Trooper Snyder a can of Degree spray deodorant instead of his driver’s license and was very disoriented/confused as to what was going on.”

Arrest records state that Maldaner told Snyder he was headed to Jacksonville from Tampa. He also reportedly admitted to drinking two glasses of red wine before driving, and said he takes ADHD medication — a bottle of which troopers found in his car, along with an open bottle of Patron Tequila.

Maldaner told troopers he was unaware he was ever in a crash.

His blood alcohol level was recorded between 0.230 and 0.221, a little over two times the legal limit, according to arrest records.

FHP records state Maldaner’s license was suspended and confiscated. Troopers also contacted ICE, which placed a detainer on him. 

He was taken to the Pasco County jail.