By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
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Police arrested a Greenwood woman after she drove drunk with a child in the car, assaulted multiple family members and led police on a brief car chase.
Theresa Huffman, 25, was arrested on charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated – endangerment, strangulation and two counts of domestic battery, all felonies. She was also arrested on misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, resisting law enforcement, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office will decide what, if any, charges to file.
Police were called shortly after 9 p.m. Friday to the 1400 block of Pencross Lane on a report of a disturbance. When police pulled onto the street, they observed a car leaving the area at high speeds and attempted to pull it over. The car, however, continued to drive through the neighborhood, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
Police estimated the car was going nearly double the 25mph speed limit through the neighborhood, and when the vehicle came to a stop along Fountain Grass Drive, Huffman exited the car with her hands up. She told police she was being held against her will at a home in the neighborhood, and accused two relatives of assaulting her, according to the report.
Police smelled alcohol on Huffman, and said her speech was slurred, her balance was unstable and she had red and glassy eyes, the report said.
Huffman told police she had been drinking earlier that evening, and consented to field sobriety tests, which confirmed she had an unstable balance and was unable to follow visual stimuli. When given a breathalyzer test, she had a 0.179 blood alcohol level, more than twice the legal limit, according to the report.
Huffman said she went to a home on Pencross Lane so her relatives could watch her child while she went to work as a GrubHub driver. She told police she had only been at the home for a short time before the altercation occurred, the report said.
Relatives at the home told police when Huffman arrived, she appeared intoxicated. When she and the child entered the home, the relatives attempted to take away her keys because they did not want her to drive any further while intoxicated, according to the report.
Huffman became upset and hit one of the relatives in the face. As the relative tried to hold her in an attempt to stop the altercation, she bit his arm. She then hit another relative in the head and choked her to a point that she was unable to breath, the report said.
Inside the home, police observed broken portions of a wall and scuff marks on a bedroom door. The relatives told police a second child was at the home at the time of the fight. The second child attempted to shelter Huffman’s child in a bedroom, the room with scuff marks on the door, according to the report.
Outside the home, police noticed a damaged mailbox at the house across the street. Huffman’s relatives said she ran over the mailbox when she left, the report said.
Police found an open alcohol container in the cup holder of Huffman’s car, according to the report.
Based on Huffman’s statements and the time between her arriving at the home and the 911 call, police determined she had driven to the home drunk with her child in the car, the report said.
When police asked Huffman if she had been intoxicated while her child was in the car, she became verbally abusive and told police she “would not be going to the jail or hospital.” She adjusted herself in an attempt to open the door to the police car, and police had to activate child safety locks to keep her in, police said.
Huffman continued to tell police she was held against her will, and was verbally abusive toward officers. At one point, she adjusted herself in a manner that led police to believe she was going to damage equipment inside the vehicle, so police removed her from the car. While they were removing her, she kicked and beat her head against the windows, according to the report.
Once outside the car, Huffman continued to scream at police as they called for a jail van to transport her to the Johnson County jail. She refused to get in the van initially, and had to be put inside by officers at the scene, the report said.
At the jail, Huffman refused to get out of the van, and had to be taken out by officers. Once inside, she had to be restrained, according to the report.
Huffman is being held at the jail without bond.
