BOYNTON BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Delray Beach woman found asleep behind the wheel of a running car in the middle of a Boynton Beach Chili’s parking lot blew more than three times Florida’s legal limit, according to police. Mary Romano Puls, 31, is charged with DUI with a breath alcohol level of 0.15 or higher.
It happened around 2:10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Chili’s at 2202 N. Congress Avenue. A police report obtained by BocaNewsNow.com reveals that a Boynton Beach Police officer spotted a red vehicle stopped in the middle of the otherwise empty lot. The engine was running, the brake lights were on, and it wasn’t in a parking space. The officer walked up to check on the driver and found Puls asleep with the car in drive. It took about a minute for her to wake up, according to the arrest report.
Puls told police she was headed home to Delray Beach after being at The Ave in Delray Beach, and that she’d had alcohol about five hours earlier. Asked what city she was in, she said Boca Raton. The officer reported red, glassy eyes, slurred speech and swaying. She agreed to field sobriety exercises and, police say, struggled through them — stepping off the line during the walk-and-turn, putting her foot down during the one-leg stand and touching her nostrils instead of the tip of her nose.
She was arrested at 2:24 a.m. and taken to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office breath testing facility, where police say she provided two samples: 0.246 and 0.247. Florida’s legal limit is 0.08. Puls is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
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