14-Year Old Charged with DUI in Austin
Girl's uncle let her drive because he was too drunk.
A 14-year old girl was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI) in Austin, Texas on February 19th. Her uncle had let her drive because he was too drunk to do so himself.
A caller notified police of a reckless driver in a 2003 Ford Explorer around 11:30 pm on Airport Boulevard in East Austin. The caller said that the vehicle had fishtailed, turned from a center lane into a parking lot and almost hit a building, reentered the roadway and drove in the bicycle lane. Police eventually stopped the vehicle, but not before it jumped a curb and drove through a residential lawn.
The officer detected a strong aroma of alcohol coming from the teenaged driver. A breath test revealed a BAC of .14% and she was arrested for DUI (minor's in Texas are charged with a DUI, not DWI). The girl's uncle, Raunel Soto, 39, was in the front passenger's seat and he reportedly had allowed her to drive because he was too intoxicated to even stand up. In the car, investigators found several opened and half full beer cans on the floorboard where Soto had been sitting. He was charged with child endangerment and public intoxication.
A 16-year old boy and a 16-year old girl in the back seat smelled of alcohol and marijuana. There is no indication of the two passengers being charged with crimes.
