She crashed four blocks from home. The bottle of wine in her purse was mostly empty, deputies say

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies responding to a four-car DUI crash in Edgewood on Wednesday afternoon caught the causing driver trying to walk the four blocks back to her house, according to the department.

They found a mostly empty bottle of wine sticking out of her purse, prosecutors say, and she kicked the deputy who tried to arrest her, too.

The 55-year-old Edgewood woman was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court on charges of third-degree assault, felony hit-and-run, failure to have an ignition interlock and first-degree driving while suspended. Her bail was set at $50,000.

Prosecutors reserve the right to add vehicular assault charges after the woman’s blood is processed to test for alcohol.

According to charging documents and the Sheriff’s Department:

The woman was driving north on Meridian Avenue East, about four blocks from her house, when she crossed the double center line and struck three different vehicles. Two of the drivers were taken to area hospitals with neck and back pain.

The woman tried to drive her stricken SUV from the scene but was unable to, so she walked away with her purse.

One of the drivers followed her as she went and immediately pointed her out to the responding sheriff’s deputies.

One of the deputies arrested the woman and put her in his patrol car against her will as she drunkenly swore at the officer and fire personnel. Then she kicked the deputy in the leg.

She was eventually strapped to a backboard and taken to an area hospital for a blood draw, but she tried to bite firefighters during that process.

This story was originally published October 12, 2017 at 8:11 PM with the headline "She crashed four blocks from home. The bottle of wine in her purse was mostly empty, deputies say."