The most common reports in the police blotter are drunk driving arrests, in part, because the same criminals are allowed by the lenient courts to just keep on offending. But amid the regularity of DUI offenses, there are those that still stand out as this despicable case from Jacksonville, Florida so sadly shows:On Super Bowl Sunday, a deputy saw a car drive through a red light and swerve back and forth over the center lane on U.S. 1 South. The deputy stopped the car. Investigators say the woman, who identified herself as Tina Williams (mug shot at left), smelled of alcohol. According to the report, Williams told the deputy she never had a license and was running out of gas. The deputy saw a case of Busch beer in the front seat with a seat belt around it, and a baby girl in the backseat.
When asked why the girl wasn't restrained, Williams reportedly told the officer, "I don't know." Williams told the deputy she had a few drinks. Authorities say she staggered when she got out of her car. The deputy arrested her for DUI after she failed a field sobriety test.
Williams faces charges of driving under the influence, child endangerment, driving without a valid license, running a red light, and not having a seatbelt or child restraint.
And that, so often, is where the case ends -- at the criminal's "facing" charges rather than being properly punished and the public protected from repeated endangerment. (See this recent Vital Signs Blog post.) Let's hope this case is different.
