Idaho Falls police: Woman drives drunk, hits patrol car
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IDAHO FALLS — A woman who had been driving drunk passed out, woke up to find police nearby and hit a patrol car when she tried to get away, Idaho Falls police said.
Officers responded to Chamberlain and Short around 1 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, to a report of a woman passed out behind the wheel of a Dodge pickup truck. When they arrived, they found the truck in the middle of the road, the engine running and the brake lights on. Officers walked up to the pickup and the driver, who was later identified as Kristi Burgess, 26, of Idaho Falls, was slumped over with her head against the vehicle window. The truck was still in drive, and her foot was on the brake.
An officer parked a patrol car in front of the truck to keep it from rolling in case her foot came off the brake while she was still passed out.
The doors were locked, and officers tried for several minutes to wake her. When Burgess woke up, she refused to open the door and tried to get away, police said. Burgess drove her truck into and slightly up onto the front of the patrol vehicle, where an officer was sitting inside.
Before the situation escalated any further, officers broke her window to get her out of the truck.
No one was hurt in the incident.
Burgess was arrested on charges of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor excessive driving under the influence of alcohol and booked into the Bonneville County Jail. According to court records, she is also facing an additional charge of excessive driving under the influence stemming from an incident in September.