By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
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Prosecutors charged an Indianapolis woman after police said she drove drunk with a child in the car, assaulted multiple family members and led them on a brief car chase last week in Greenwood.
Theresa Huffman, 25, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated – endangerment, resisting law enforcement using a vehicle, strangulation and two counts of domestic battery, all Level 6 felonies. She was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident and three counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, all misdemeanors. If convicted on all charges, she could face up to about 15 years in jail.
Greenwood police responded late Friday night to the 1400 block of Pencross Lane on a report of a disturbance. As 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 probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday in Johnson County Circuit Court.
When the car came to a stop a few streets away, Huffman exited the car with her hands up and told police she was being held against her will at a nearby home. She also accused two relatives of assaulting her, according to court documents.
Police smelled alcohol on Huffman, and said her speech was slurred, her balance was unstable and she had red and glassy eyes. Huffman told police she had been drinking earlier that evening, and consented to field sobriety tests, which confirmed she was intoxicated. Based on Huffman’s statements about when she arrived at the home and when police were first notified of a disturbance, police determined she had driven to the home drunk with a child in the car, court documents said.
Huffman said she went to a home on Pencross Lane so her relatives could watch a child while she went to work as a GrubHub driver. 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. She became upset and hit, choked and bit relatives in front of two children, according to court documents.
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, court documents said.
Huffman fought with police leading up to and during transport, and had to be restrained at the Johnson County jail, according to court documents.
She remains at the jail without bond. An initial hearing is set for Monday.
