A 21-year-old Washington woman was arrested in Eureka for suspicion of driving while intoxicated after numerous empty shot bottles of whiskey were found in a car she was driving. The woman also allegedly struck another car in the parking lot outside Walmart, 131 Eureka Towne Centre Drive, Eureka Police reported.
Officers were called at about 8:25 a.m. June 16 to the store when the woman was seen driving erratically in a 2018 Mazda 3 that didn’t have license plates. When an officer arrived, he saw the woman pull out of the store parking lot onto Fifth Street headed west and then allegedly swerve into other lanes. The officer turned on his cruiser’s emergency lights and siren, the report said.
The woman pulled back into the Walmart parking lot and stopped, and the officer said the woman smelled like alcohol. The woman allegedly told the officer she had drunk shots, Eureka Police reported.
She reportedly failed field sobriety tests, registering .311 percent blood-alcohol content. In Missouri, .08 percent is the legal limit.
When officers searched the car, they allegedly found 11 empty shot bottles of Wild Turkey American Honey whiskey, and another bottle of whiskey that was about three-quarters full, the report said.
In addition, the woman allegedly had hit a 2014 Ford Focus while she was driving in the Walmart parking lot, causing minor damage to the car. A witness told police she saw the woman strike the unoccupied Ford after making a U-turn in the parking lot and then stop for a moment before continuing on, Eureka Police reported.
The woman was transported to an area hospital for examination. She also was issued summonses to appear in Eureka Municipal Court for alleged DWI, improper lane use, driving with an open container, driving without a license and failure to register a motor vehicle, Lt. Tom Wille said.