Ferndale police: Drunken mom tried to drive son to school

**exdetroiter** · September-10-09, 01:48 PM

Ferndale -- The mother of a Ferndale Schools student was arrested for drunken driving Tuesday after she approached an officer for directions to her son's school and the officer smelled intoxicants on her breath, Ferndale police said.
Police said Dena Gay Ellington, 45, of Birmingham exited her Land Rover outside Taft Alternative High School at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday to ask directions to another Ferndale school.
Her 9-year-old son was in the back seat, police said. A breath test administered by the officer determined Ellington's blood alcohol level was .29, more than three times the legal limit, police said.

She was arrested and her son was driven to school by a police officer.
Ellington was charged today with operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a passenger younger than 16.
The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Magistrate Kimberly Wilson set a $5,000 bond.

http://detnews.com/article/20090909/...-son-to-school

How on earth could someone be that drunk that earliy in the morning?
How could she be so dumb to drive her child while drunker than a skunk?
Why can't she afford $500 to get out of jail, yet she lives in Birmingham and drives a Land Rover. I feel so bad for her child. He had to be scarred out his wits, yet still had to go to school.

**elganned** · September-10-09, 01:58 PM

*shrug* The world is full of stupid people, unfortunately.

I feel sorry for the kid. At 9, he may or may not have been scared; if this was [[and/or had been) a common occurrance, he might just have assumed that everything was "normal" as defined in his world.

**ejames01** · September-10-09, 02:12 PM

The world is absolutely full of idiots

Just yesterday, I saw a man push a baby in a stroller across Michigan & Livernois [[Rush hour traffic) while talking on a cell phone. Later I saw a lady back into some guys SUV at Warren & Greenfield. She braked too late and ended up partially in the intersection. Obviously, that can happen, but this moron neglected to look in the rear view mirror and just shifted into reverse and smashed into the guys front bumper.

Some people's brains must function a little differently.

Originally Posted by elganned

*shrug* The world is full of stupid people, unfortunately.

I feel sorry for the kid. At 9, he may or may not have been scared; if this was [[and/or had been) a common occurrance, he might just have assumed that everything was "normal" as defined in his world.