On Dec. 1 at approximately 12:39 a.m., police in an Illinois city were called to the scene of a single-car accident. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a vehicle facing south in the northbound lane, live electrical wires on the ground and a utility pole that was severed near ground level. After talking to the driver, police arrested her on several charges, including a felony drunk driving charge.
Police claim that the woman was on her cell phone when they found her standing near the vehicle. She supposedly admitted to being distracted by her phone at the time of the accident. Furthermore, officers claim she slurred her words and smelled of alcohol. Presumably officers asked if she had been drinking, and she replied that she had not had that much to drink, but would not tell them where she was that night.
Reports allege that the young woman’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was .302 that night. The legal limit here in Illinois is .08. That means that her BAC was well over three times what is considered legally drunk.
Because she apparently did not have insurance for the vehicle she was driving, she faces an aggravated drunk driving charge that carries a potential prison term between one and three years. The other charges she faces are misdemeanors. Her criminal defense team will more than likely scrutinize the evidence, including the statements that she made to police that night and the circumstances surrounding the BAC testing in order to determine whether her rights were violated or any mistakes were made by officials.
Source: kcchronicle.com, “St. Charles woman charged with felony DUI struck utility pole“, Brenda Schory, Dec. 9, 2016
