An intoxicated woman threw a beer can from the window of the van she was driving in suburban Riverside with three children in the backseat—one of them, a teen, sick with “severe abdominal pain,” according to police.
Edith Hernandez, 37, of the 900 block of Johnson in Streator, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, endangering the life of a child, unsafe opening of a door in traffic, littering on the roadway and driving with no vehicle insurance.
A Riverside officer saw a white 1999 Chevy van headed south in the 3100 block of Harlem Avenue stop, its door opened and a beer can was thrown into the street about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, police said. When the officer pulled the vehicle over, he could “immediately” smell liquor on the driver’s breath, police said. The driver’s eyes, according to police, were bloodshot and glossed over and she had a difficult time conversing with the officers as he questioned her.
Police say the woman told the officer she had been partying in nearby Berwyn. When asked why she threw the beer can in the street, the woman told the officer she was trying to get home because one of the three children in the back seat of the car was sick with severe abdominal pain, police said. Paramedics arrived on the scene and took the 17-year-old girl to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn to be evaluated. Police arranged for relatives to meet the girl at the hospital.
A 9- and 11-year-old were also in the car and police arranged for relatives to take care of the children, police said. An intoxicated man was also in the car, police said.
“This is a typical holiday DUI arrest where individuals party all weekend long, get into their car and attempt to drive home—and in this case with children—thinking that there will be no consequences,” said Riverside Police Chieft Thomas Weitzel. “Fortunately, no one was injured and this individual was stopped and arrested before either she or anyone in her vehicle could be seriously injured. Let alone the fact that she could have easily struck an innocent motorist while traveling to Streator.”
Hernandez failed a field sobriety test, police said. She blew a .096, which is over the legal limit of 0.08, police said. Hernandez told police she had at least four beers earlier in the day and was attempting to get back to Streator, police said.
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She did not attempt to get another driver or call 911 to help the child, according to police.
Hernandez is due in court July 7 at the Maybrook Court House at 9 a.m.
