Woman charged with OVI with 3 kids in car

LORAIN, Ohio - Lorain police arrested and charged a woman with operating a vehicle while impaired and child endangerment after pulling her over for driving recklessly with three children in the car.

Mary Elizabeth Torres, 24, had three children under the age of seven in the vehicle, all without seatbelts, when police pulled her over for running a stop sign and driving left of center. She was also driving with a suspended license, according to a release from Lorain police.

Police determined her blood alcohol content to be three times the legal limit, based on a breathalyzer test.

The incident occurred around 3 a.m. Wednesday, on West 24th Street. Police said they smelled a strong scent of alcohol when they approached the vehicle and Torres appeared incoherent. They then asked Torres to get out of the car and she nearly fell to the ground several times.

According to the release, when police asked Torres if she had consumed any alcohol, she responded, “Yes, I had four shots of E&J about a half hour ago.” Police tried to conduct a series of sobriety tests, but she was too intoxicated to complete the tests, the release stated.

Torres was placed under arrest and transported to the Lorain Police Station, where she completed the breathalyzer test and blew a .254. The legal limit is .08.

The suspect was charged with OVI, three counts of child endangerment, driving with a suspended license, three counts of restraints required, stop sign violation and driving left of center.

Two of the children belonged to Torres, and the other was her niece. Torres' mother was called to the scene the take custody of the three children.