A Sawgrass caddie is facing a stack of charges after deputies say he kicked a St. Johns County deputy in the groin during a Sunday traffic stop near the Beachwalk neighborhood. What started as a routine traffic enforcement stop ended with the man in handcuffs and booked into the county jail, a case that is now getting attention in both law enforcement and local golf circles.
As reported by St. Johns Citizen, the suspect is 42-year-old Timothy M. Clarkin, a New York resident who works as a caddie at Sawgrass. The outlet reports that deputies pulled Clarkin over after observing speeding, following too closely and an improper lane change on County Road 210 West near Beachwalk Shore Drive. He now faces charges including DUI, refusal to submit to testing, driving with a revoked license, resisting an officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. Deputies transported him to the county jail after the April 19 incident, according to the report.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office books arrested offenders into the county detention center on Lewis Speedway, a facility that houses pretrial inmates, according to the sheriff’s office website St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. Contact numbers and inmate resources are handled through the Corrections Division for those seeking booking information.
What deputies say
According to the incident report cited by St. Johns Citizen, deputies say Clarkin showed signs of intoxication, including slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol, and only partially cooperated with field sobriety testing. The report states he produced a New York identification card instead of a valid driver’s license, refused most sobriety exercises and declined a breath test. Deputies say he resisted being handcuffed, went limp while they tried to place him in a patrol car and then allegedly kicked a deputy in the groin during the struggle.
Charges and legal context
Clarkin faces several charges that could carry criminal penalties if prosecutors formally file counts, according to local reporting. Florida’s implied-consent statutes and recent changes often called "Trenton’s Law" make certain refusals to submit to breath or urine testing criminal offenses in addition to administrative license sanctions, per the Florida Senate statutes and legal summaries. That means prosecutors could pursue refusal-related charges alongside DUI or battery counts if they choose to do so.
Case status
Clarkin remained in custody pending processing and any formal filings; the arrest report noted his assigned attorney did not respond to requests for comment. Booking details and court records will indicate whether prosecutors move forward and can be checked through sheriff’s-office resources once inmate-search tools are available.
Public-safety officials did not release additional details about the deputy’s condition in the initial report. This story will be updated as court filings and public records become available.
