Kent Police arrested a 34-year-old Kent mother for investigation of several charges after she allegedly drove under the influence of alcohol with her 22-month-old baby in the vehicle.
Officers were dispatched at about 11:14 a.m. Monday, Oct. 21, to the 23500 block of 88th Avenue South for a welfare check, according to an Oct. 23 Kent Police news release. Witnesses called 911 to report that a woman was blocking traffic while passed out in her vehicle.
The woman was losing consciousness, and there was a sleeping baby in the back seat. Puget Sound Fire was dispatched at the same time and arrived at the scene just prior to police. Firefighters told officers that when they approached the vehicle, it was running, in drive and the driver was passed out at the wheel.
At this point concerned witnesses had removed the baby from the car and were trying to console him as he cried, according to police. He was upset but not injured.
Firefighters determined the driver had no injures, according to police. She was reportedly slurring her words, smelled heavily of intoxicants and could not provide simple information such as her address or her child’s name and age. Officers noted an open bottle of alcohol in the front seat.
As officers talked to witnesses, they learned that several of them had stopped to assist when they saw the car running but stopped in the middle of the street with the driver reportedly asleep. They estimated she had been sleeping for at least 15 minutes with the car running.
Once cleared medically, officers arrested the woman for investigation of DUI, driving while license suspended, reckless endangerment domestic violence for endangering her baby and operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, (generally required after a DUI-related arrest). The car was not equipped with this device.
A detective was able to find a stable family member to take custody of the baby, according to police.
While en route to the jail for booking, the woman was allegedly verbally abusive to the officer, threatening to kill him and using racial slurs. She refused to give a breath sample, so an officer authored a warrant for her blood. The warrant was approved by a judge, and the blood draw was completed. A copy of the police report has been sent to state Child Protective Services, according to police.
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