Blame Naked Lady In DUI Bust

APRIL 5--A few days ago, we reported on the March 24 DUI arrest of Travis McConchie, a Florida corrections officer who told cops that he initially failed to pull over for Highway Patrol officers because a naked lady friend happened to be sitting on top of him during the half-mile pursuit.

Turns out the jailer's nude buddy, 35-year-old Bernadette Rivera, is also familiar with the Sunshine State's correctional system. That's because Rivera, a convicted felon, was a ward of the state until March 17, one week before the car in which she and McConchie were getting busy got stopped.

Rivera, pictured here in a prison mug shot, served nearly four years for a 2000 conviction for leaving the scene of an auto accident. Rivera spent the final five months of that sentence at a work release center in Pinellas County.

That facility happens to adjoin the Largo Road Prison, where McConchie works. And since McConchie would also have worked at the Pinellas center when there were staff shortages, there can be little doubt where he first laid eyes on Rivera (perhaps it was across a crowded courtyard). (3 pages)