Pennsylvania Mom Uses Daughter to Fool Breathalyzer, Crashes Car, Gets Arrested
Hopefully Angela Daywalt, of Waynesboro, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has a World's Best Mom coffee mug at home, because she is unlikely to win the actual award any time soon. Daywalt was arrested and charged with DUI, endangering the welfare of a child, and assorted traffic and summary violations after she fled the scene of a drunk driving accident, allegedly after asking her 8-year-old daughter to blow into a breathalyzer device in her car.
And this all happened at 11 p.m. -- way after the little girl's bedtime.
Mommy Daughter DUI
Ignition interlock devices are like breathalyzers for your car, requiring an alcohol-free breath sample in order to start a vehicle or keep it running. Normally reserved for chronic DUI offenders, many states now require installation of an interlock device after a person's first drunk driving offense.
Witnesses say Daywalt urged her young daughter to blow into the ignition interlock device in her car shortly before she crashed her car. She proceeded to flee the scene, with law enforcement catching up with her at her home later. A blood draw revealed, unsurprisingly, that she was intoxicated.
Children, Teach Your Parents Well
As reprehensible as Daywalt's actions were, she's not the only bad mom out there:
- Another Pennsylvania mom was charged with DUI, one year after she was also charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a drunk driving crash that killed her 14-year-old son;
- One of the most famous moms in America, "Teen Mom" star Farrah Abraham was arrested for a DUI in Nebraska in 2013;
- A wealthy New York mother allegedly beat up her nanny who tried to stop the mother from driving drunk with her toddler in the car;
- The last mom you'd expect (or the first, depending on your world view), former Mothers Against Drunk Driving president Debra Oberlin got pinched for a DUI in Florida;
- It's not all drinking and driving -- a pot-smoking teen mom in Arizona allegedly drove off after strapping her infant son into his child safety seat ... on the roof of her car; and
- Proving dads can be just as bad, a Florida man was arrested on DUI and reckless driving charges after driving 127 mph in the Keys with three small children in the car.
Parents of the world, please don't use your children to fool interlock ignition devices.
Related Resources:
- Don't face a DUI alone. Get your case reviewed by a lawyer for free now. (Consumer Injury)
- PSP: Mom Used Girl's Breath to Start Car With DUI Device (AP)
- Drinking and Driving for Two: DUI While Breastfeeding (FindLaw Blotter)
- More Moms Getting DUIs With Kids in Car: Report (FindLaw Blotter)