DUI Driver with Child Onboard Flips Car on Top & Blocks Highway

They were not only allegedly driving drunk when they crashed but also doing it with a small child in the car.

Washington State Patrol Responds to Flipped Car with Small Child Inside

The Washington State Patrol had to close a part of SR-20 for multiple hours because of a single-car accident blocking both lanes. The Trooper found the silver sedan on its top near Eaglemount and found the driver to be showing signs of intoxication. The narrow section of roadway has steep hillsides on one side of the road with a guardrail and a steep cliff down on the other. Sadly, in the photo posted by the Trooper you can see a small child's backpack lying on the side of the road and what looks like squished pastel toys in the road. The Trooper confirmed a small female child was involved in the crash in the post. Washington State Patrol Trooper Katherine Weatherwax did not specify the age of the child involved but did say that "thankfully she was uninjured in the crash." The sad thing is a similar situation happened just Monday this week in California.

California DUI Driver Allegedly Had 3 Kids in Car with No Seatbelts

On Monday, April 8. 2024, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputy spotted the driver of a car swerving between lanes of traffic, and driving onto the shoulders. The driver of that car, 23-year-old Stephen Barrientos of Hesperia, was arrested on suspicion of DUI. The deputy found two very young children, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, in the back seat without any restraints, seat belts, or booster seats. Berrientos was arrested on charges of DUI and child abuse with the possibility of great bodily injury and is being held on $70,000 bail. I think it is safe to say the so far un-named driver of the silver flipped-over sedan on WA-20 will face similar charges.