Florida Woman Crashes Car with Unbuckled Child in Passenger Seat

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on August 20, 2018

Officers working with the Cocoa Police Department found themselves engaged in an unusual DUI arrest on Thursday, August 9th, after discovering a car that had collided with a tree around 3:00 in the morning. It is not clear if the police were called to the scene or if an officer on routine patrol discovered the crash, but soon there were numerous emergency units at the scene of the incident including paramedics and EMTs.

The officer who initially responded to the incident indicated that they approached the window to the car and noticed that the driver was still sitting in the vehicle. It seems that the driver of the vehicle was asleep at this time, and the responding officer then attempted to wake her up. It took the officer upwards of five minutes to rouse the slumbering motorist, and when she finally emerged from her dreams it seems that her speech was highly slurred and that there was a strong smell of alcohol coming off of her.

At the behest of the officer, the woman began trying to perform the various sobriety tests, but she ultimately proved unable to complete any of them.

Two additional factors make this case somewhat unique. The first is that on the passenger seat next to the woman was a case of beer. Police indicated that the case was close to half empty, and although the report did not mention the size of the case, it did state that a small child was sitting on top of it. The report also indicated that this child was not wearing a seatbelt.

We do not know the extent of the damage to the car after striking the tree, and we also do not know as what speed the car was travelling when the driver allowed it to leave the road. Because neither of the two people inside of the car were injured, it seems likely that the vehicle was not traveling particularly fast, but the fact remains that the driver, who’s breathalyzer test results placed her BAC well above the legal limit, put both herself and her child into a situation of extreme danger.

After the arrest, the woman was being held at the Brevard County Jail with her bail set at $3,500. It is not known where the child was kept while the woman was inside of the detention center.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.