Tow Truck Struck? - 08.05.24 (WA)

[TowForce]

Suspected DUI driver arrested after almost hitting tow truck, unsecured child in back seat

 

KENT, Wash. — A driver in Kent was arrested on suspicion of DUI after nearly crashing into a tow truck, failing a sobriety test and having an unsecured 3-year-old in the back seat.

 

Around 2:40 a.m. on Monday, a Kent Police officer was at a scene near Kent Des Moines Road and West Meeker Street providing coverage to a tow truck taking a car off the road when a Mustang nearly hit it.

 

Kent Police pulled the car over to check on the driver and immediately suspected she was intoxicated.

 

Officer De Var was able to quickly assess DUI after the 30-year-old nearly hit the tow truck, forgot to place her car in park when reaching for documents and failed the sobriety test.

 

Police said the driver smelled of intoxicants and could not follow instructions.

 

The officer noticed a 3-year-old in the back seat who was not secured.

 

The driver was arrested under suspicion of DUI, reckless endangerment, driving without a license, no insurance and failing to yield to the tow truck.

 

The child was safely returned to a family member.

 

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Kent woman arrested for DUI while 3-year-old was unstrapped in back seat

 

KENT, Wash. — Early Monday morning, Kent police arrested a woman who was driving with a 3-year-old child who wasn't strapped into their car seat for DUI.

 

At around 2:40 a.m., Kent police said an officer was at the intersection of KDM and W Meeker, sitting behind a tow truck that was removing a vehicle from the road. Both the tow truck and police were fully lit with emergency lights, and there was ample time and room to move safely to the right around the truck, according to police.

 

An oncoming Mustang then came "perilously close to hitting the tow truck and driver," Kent police noted. The Kent officer then quickly pulled the Mustang over to check on the driver.

 

"The first indication besides almost causing an accident that the driver, a 30-year-old Pacific resident, was DUI was when she left the car in drive, and it lurched forward as she grabbed for her documents," Kent police wrote in a press release.

 

The woman attempted to perform multiple field sobriety tests but failed them badly, police said.

 

"She smelled heavily of intoxicants and was not even remotely able to follow instructions," Kent police wrote. "She had no driver's license and no insurance."

 

Following the sobriety tests, the officer then discovered the woman had a 3-year-old child who was not strapped into a car seat.

 

The officer placed the woman into custody and booked her for DUI and reckless endangerment DV for having her unbelted child in the car while driving drunk, police said. She was also cited for driving without a license, without insurance, and failing to yield to the tow truck.

 

Kent police said the child is safe, uninjured, and was returned to a family member.

 

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