JAY — A Strong woman is accused of driving drunk with her 3-year-old daughter in a seat belt in the back seat Thursday night, according to police.

Jay police officer Stephanie Guillemette arrested Samantha Atwood, 25, on misdemeanor charges of operating under the influence with one prior conviction, endangering the welfare of a child and domestic violence assault, Detective Michael Mejia said Friday.

The child was not in a required child safety seat.

Franklin County dispatchers received a 911 complaint about 9:08 p.m. of a female identified as Atwood leaving a residence intoxicated and having her 3-year-old daughter with her, Mejia said.

Guillemette responded, but Wilton police Sgt. Chad Abbott spotted the car first and pulled it over on Davis Road. He detained Atwood until Guillemette arrived.

Guillemette conducted field sobriety tests, Mejia said. After a breath test registered 0.15 percent alcohol content, she was arrested, he said.

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Atwood has a prior conviction of operating under the influence on Aug. 31, 2013. She was fined $500 and sentenced to 48 hours in jail and had her driver’s license suspended for 90 days, according to Sun Journal archives.

Atwood is also accused of slapping and pushing a male at a Jay residence, according to Mejia.

She was released on $250 cash bail Friday morning from the Franklin County jail in Farmington, a corrections officer said.

Atwood is scheduled to appear in a Farmington court Aug. 23.

Convictions on the assault and endangering charges each carry a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

A conviction on the OUI charge with one prior is punishable by a minimum of seven days in jail, a minimum fine of $700, a court-ordered suspension of a driver’s license for three years and suspension of the person’s right to register a motor vehicle, according to state law.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net


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