WHITE CO., Ill.—An alleged drinking/driving/crashing incident involving a minor took up some of White County’s time this past week, according to information from the county.
On July 17 at approximately 9:46 p.m., Deputy George Spencer responded to the intersection of County Road 1500 N and 1250 E in reference to a 911 dispatch of a vehicle in the ditch at this location.
Spencer found a maroon 2000 Chevy Venture in the ditch on the north side of C 1500N approximately 100 feet west of CR 1250E. He noted that the car had come to rest after striking a culvert running beneath a driveway; the vehicle was devoid of occupants when he arrived.
However, he observed a female subject exit another vehicle and approach him; she identified herself as the owner of the vehicle and said that she believed her daughter may have been driving it. she advised Spencer that she would like S&E Salvage to remove the vehicle, and Spencer contacted dispatch of this.
While waiting for the tow, he was notified by the White County Sheriff’s Department that a subject had called in and stated he’d picked up the driver and a number of passengers at the scene. He then had driven the group to the intersection of Sycamore Street and 7th in Carmi and dropped them off.
Apparently Carmi was successful at locating the young driver; sheriff’s officials met with the girl, age 16, and her parents and were able to detect that the teen had an odor of alcohol on he breath. They also noted her speech was slurred and slow, and her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. She did state she’d been drinking alcohol, and that she’d consumed a small amount prior to driving her vehicle into the ditch, but she stated she had consumed more alcohol after leaving the scene, noting that while she didn’t know the “exact address” of the place where she’d been drinking, it was somewhere in Carmi…and she also didn’t know the name of the person who had given her the alcohol.
Harley W. Lewallen
As to the crash, she said that she, Harley W. Lewallen (a 22-year-old frequent flier in the White County Court system) and another unknown male subject had been in her vehicle at the time of the crash. She attributed the crash to being “unfamiliar with the road” and said she didn’t realize it ended in a t-intersection; when she figured out it was an intersection, she knew she was traveling too fast to stop. She wasn’t able to stop, and attempted to steer the car through the intersection but drove it off the north side of the roadway and into the ditch.
The girl noted that everyone in the vehicle had been drinking, and they left the scene because they were afraid they would get in trouble.
The girl was issued a citation for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an accident and was released to the custody of her parents; further charges are likely pending.
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