Edmond PD release report in teen drunk-driving accident
Edmond police released new details about the tragic accident, involving teen drinking over the memorial day weekend.
EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) - Edmond police released new details about the tragic accident, involving teen drinking over the memorial day weekend.
"Edmond 911 – what's your emergency?" asked a dispatcher. "My daughter stuck her head out the window and now she's bleeding," said the caller.
On Saturday night around 11:45pm in Oak Tree a mother of a 15-year-old girl called Edmond Police.
"Female's head of of the window. Vehicle was moving," said a dispatcher over scanner traffic. "Has a head injury now."
The Edmond Police report detailed what happened during the moments before the call to 911.
The 17-year-old driver told police she had "an apple beer" at a friends house 45 minutes before getting behind the wheel. She told officers she "didn't feel drunk" and "felt safe enough driving them home."
"Our younger kids, the tolerance level obviously is not there," said Chief Greg Giltner, the former chairman of the court-ordered DUI program Victim's Impact Panel. "So the impairment usually hits them much faster and it will affect them on their critical thinking."
The teen driver told Edmond PD her 15-year-old friend, a passenger in the car, "had to throw up." When the car stopped, the passenger said she felt better. Then the driver heard a loud noise after driving off.
"Her head impacted with a large metal mailbox," said Emily Ward, a spokesperson for the Edmond Police Department.
The 17-year-old driver told police she looked back and saw the 15-year-old "hanging from her waist outside the window."
"I think she's having some seizures right now," said a neighbor on the 911 call.
Police said the 15-year-old was rushed to the hospital where she had surgery to relieve brain pressure. She is still in the ICU.
Edmond Police said the driver blew a .04 during the breathalyzer test. The legal limit for an adult is .08.
"If she's a 04, typically that would be a couple of drinks," said Giltner. "Legally she can't have any of that."
The 17-year-old was arrested for DUI and great bodily injury. That is a felony.
"A felony arrest on a on a person under 21 that affects jobs, you know. It could also affect this this person getting your driver's license," said Giltner. "I'll guarantee they did not leave the house that night wanting to hurt their friend."
"At the end of the day, if you drink you should not drive," said Jerod Breit, a spokesman for the group Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD). "It almost always ends in tragedy."
Breit said the statistics show this incident could've ended another way.
"Teen drinking kills about 4,300 people each year," said Breit. "This is 100% preventable crime."