North Port girl, 8, alerts 911 to dad passed out drunk in car

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. A North Port man was arrested after his 8-year-old daughter called 911 and said he was passed out drunk at the wheel of his SUV.

Stephen William Segrue, 48, is facing charges including DUI and child neglect following the May 7 incident.

“We went to a restaurant and ended up going to the bars,” the girl said in the 911 call. “And then we went to that bar, and then we went to another bar, and now he’s passed out drunk, and I don’t know where I am.”

Segrue later told deputies he had a few drinks at a restaurant in Fishermen’s village, the sheriff’s office said.

The dispatcher asked the girl to recall what happened before he stopped the car.

“He was about to fall asleep at the wheel and we were slowing down, slowing down and then he just pulled over,” the girl said.

She was stranded for more than an hour until a Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputy found their SUV near Duncan and Washington Loop roads, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said. The dispatcher stayed on the phone with the girl and praised her as the deputy arrived.

“You did a really great job helping us out to find you,” the dispatcher said.

When the deputy woke up Segrue and asked him for his driver’s license, he initially gave him a credit card instead, the sheriff’s office said.

Segrue later gave his driver’s license but didn’t know where his registration and proof of insurance were, the deputy said.

Segrue performed a field sobriety test for the deputy prior to his arrest and refused a breathalyzer test after the deputy took him to jail.

He was released on $13,500 bond. He’s also facing charges of resisting an officer without violence and unlawful prescription drug possession.

It’s unclear when he’ll appear in court.

The girl is staying with other family.