An attempt to drive home ended with the arrest of an East Milton woman when she allegedly failed to stop for deputies last week, driving erratically and under the influence with a minor in the vehicle, according to a Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office report.
Deputy George Holder II was responding to a call, traveling west on Highway 90, when he noticed two pairs of headlights approaching him. He noted that it seemed like someone was trying to pass on the shoulder of the two-lane road. As the vehicles passed, he saw a dark blue Chevrolet leave the shoulder and re-enter the roadway.
According to reports, Holder made a quick U-turn to pull over the wayward vehicle. The deputy followed the vehicle as it rolled along Highway 90, allegedly swerving on-and-off the road at 40 mph, occasionally veering into the oncoming traffic lane.
The Chevy SUV turned left onto North Airport Road, entering the lane of oncoming traffic, according to the report. The driver, Amy Fretwell, East Milton, veered into the correct lane and turned on the emergency flashers. The reporting deputy says Fretwell increased the speed to 50 mph, straddling the center of the road, driving in both lanes.
Fretwell turned left onto Poinciana Place, almost hitting a stop sign, the report indicates. The vehicle stopped at a residence in the 7700 block of Poinciana Place, near the address Fretwell provided at the Santa Rosa County jail later that evening.
Fretwell was ordered to exit the vehicle, according to the report. The deputy said the 28-year-old female had bloodshot, watery eyes and smelled of alcoholic beverages. She tried to speak, but her speech was mumbled and hard to understand. Holder said he had to escort her to his patrol car because of her level of impairment.
Upon further inspection, the deputy found a minor in the front, passenger seat. There was a male passenger in the backseat, sitting between two car seats. When Fretwell was asked who the male in the SUV was, she replied it was her boyfriend. She then told deputies there was not a male in the vehicle and denied his presence, according to reports.
Holder says Fretwell’s driver's license was revoked in Feb. of 2012 for five years, for reportedly being a habitual traffic violator. She had been notified by a court order. She was arrested Thursday and charged with driving while license suspended habitual offender, DUI, flee/eluding law enforcement at high speed, cruelty toward child, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and violation of probation.
Fretwell refused breath and urine sampling at the jail. She remains in jail with no bond, awaiting trial.
No one inside Fretwell’s vehicle was injured, according to the sheriff’s report.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Woman charged in DUI with minor in car