A woman in Morgan Township is facing serious accusations after being stopped by police in early June. The Pennsylvania woman is faced with drunk driving charges, which could result in fines, jail time and the loss of her license. This is compounded by the fact that she allegedly had children in the vehicle with her at the time of her arrest.
According to the report, the 40-year-old woman was stopped by police just before midnight on June 7. Officers reported that she did not have a functional license plate light. They also reported that the woman allegedly smelled of alcohol, so they requested that she perform a field sobriety test.
The woman told police she was unable to perform these tests as a result of pre-existing conditions. As a result, she was taken into custody and subjected to a breath test. The test returned a result of .117, over the legal limit of .08. The woman faced charges of drunk driving as well as felony child endangerment, but the latter charge was later withdrawn during her preliminary hearing. The misdemeanor DUI and reckless endangerment charges remained.
The seriousness of a drunk driving charge cannot be overstated, and in this case, the woman could be at risk of further action taken against her due to the fact that she was transporting children. However, Pennsylvania prosecutors will have to argue convincingly that she was drunk at the time of the traffic stop. Depending on when the breath test was administered, her defense team could potentially question its admissibility into evidence.