A broken bottle of brandy was one of the first clues that led police to believe alcohol was involved in a rear-end collision last Wednesday in which a car carrying four children was hit.
Lecora Lee Hunter, 43, allegedly threw the bottle into the grass immediately after the crash in a heavily traveled area of South Broadway near U.S. 52 and the Shoppes on Maine shopping center.
Police found another bottle of brandy on Hunter's passenger floorboard and learned she has two DWI convictions. Initial testing showed the Rochester woman's blood-alcohol content could have been three times the legal limit, according to the complaint.
Hunter, 509 Fifth Ave. S.E., was charged in Olmsted County District Court on Monday with four gross misdemeanor counts, including criminal vehicular operation and driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to the complaint, Hunter rear-ended a car in a northbound lane in the 3000 block of South Broadway around 7 p.m. on Nov. 23. The car, which was stopped at a red light, carried two adults and children ages 5, 7, 11 and 13.
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Hunter was unsteady on her feet and could neither walk heel to toe nor execute a one-leg stand without swaying, according to police. She allegedly refused to take preliminary breath tests at the crash scene.
At the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center, first readings of breath tests registered 0.23 percent and 0.24 percent, or three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent, according to police. Neither test was conclusive, however, because Hunter allegedly failed to provide adequate breath samples.
One child in the car complained of a headache and stiff neck the day after the crash, as did the man who was driving the car and his wife, according to police.
Hunter was convicted of first-degree refusal to submit to an alcohol test in 2002 and second-degree DWI in 2005. Charges filed against her Monday included refusing to submit to a chemical test.
She allegedly told police that she saw the red light before the crash and tried to stop but that the brakes didn't engage, leading her to hit the car.
Hunter was released after her first court appearance Monday to home detention, according to the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center. The Post-Bulletin could not locate her phone number.
Hunter is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 12.
