Driver Allegedly Endangered Kids Police Say Intoxicated Mother Was Swerving Vehicle Down I-90
Idaho State Police arrested an Olympia couple for endangering four children Wednesday after their mother swerved their vehicle dangerously down Interstate 90, police say.
The children’s mother, Carole E. Digaetano, 36, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor injury to a child, drunken driving and child endangerment. She was jailed in lieu of $2,422 bond.
Her passenger, Earl D. Hobbs, 45, was charged with felony manufacturing of an unnamed illegal drug and misdemeanor injury to a child. His bond was set at $5,300.
About 7 p.m. Wednesday, ISP officers received a tip from a driver with a cellular phone. The driver told officers it appeared there was a drunken driver heading east on Interstate 90, according to an ISP report.
Cpl. Phil Broesch found the suspects’ vehicle and watched it swerve across both eastbound lanes of the highway, nearly colliding with several other cars and the cement guard rail, according to the report.
Broesch pulled the car over. Four young children, crying and upset, immediately ran from the car to the officer, according to the report.
After calming the children, who range in age from 5 to 9 years old, Broesch approached their mother.
Both Digaetano and Hobbs were heavily intoxicated, according to the report, and the children hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
The children were placed in protective custody. The adults were placed in the Kootenai County Jail.
Motorists with cellular phones can report highway emergencies and suspected drunken drivers directly to the State Police Communications Center by dialing star-477 or by dialing 911.
, DataTimes