Deputies arrest Buckley woman after drunken driving, child endangerment stop

A 24-year-old Buckley woman was arrested after Grand Traverse County deputies say a drunken-driving complaint turned into an OWI-child endangerment case with an 8-month-old riding unrestrained in the car.

The incident began at 4:11 p.m. May 9, when the first call came in from the Garfield Road and East Blairtownhall Road area. A second caller reported the same vehicle at 4:37 p.m., saying it was moving at a very high speed through the M-113 and M-37 intersection, blew through a red light and continued west on Miller Road.

Callers also told deputies the vehicle ran another red light at County Road 633 and Youker Road before weaving all over the roadway while heading north on County Road 633. The fast-moving sequence of complaints gave deputies a running location track as the car moved through a stretch of busy local roads where a mistake could have put other drivers at risk.

Witnesses saw the vehicle stop at Chum’s Shell Station and tried to box it in, but the driver was able to get around them and leave. Deputies caught up to the car near County Road 633 and Vance Road and made the stop there. The sheriff’s office said the driver gave off a strong odor of intoxicants.

What escalated the case further was what deputies found inside the vehicle. They reported an 8-month-old child in the car who was not properly restrained in a car seat. The woman was arrested for OWI-child endangerment and lodged at the Grand Traverse County Jail.

Michigan law treats operating while intoxicated with a passenger under 16 as an enhanced offense under MCL 257.625(7), and it also requires children to be properly secured in a child restraint system under MCL 257.710d. In this case, deputies said both the driving behavior and the condition of the child in the vehicle raised immediate safety concerns on roads that included Garfield Road, M-113, M-37, Miller Road, County Road 633, Youker Road and Vance Road.

The arrest underscored how quickly a reckless-driving complaint can become a child-safety emergency when callers report red-light violations, lane-weaving and a child in the car.