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July 30, 2009

North Enid woman 1st in Garfield County to be charged under new law

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer

A North Enid woman is the first person in Garfield County to be charged with child endangerment under an amended statute.

Gov. Brad Henry in May signed into law legislation that amended child endangerment statues to make it a violation for people to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol when children are in the vehicle.

About 11:50 p.m. Sunday, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers stopped a vehicle for crossing the centerline on Oakwood near Purdue, according to an affidavit.

Troopers spoke with the driver, Anita Louise Cham-bers, and saw an 18-month-old child sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle without a seat belt, the affidavit states. Chambers said she was texting on her phone and also distracted by the child in the seat next to her.

A trooper asked Chambers if she had anything to drink that night, and she said she had a beer, but it was several hours ago, according to the affidavit. When asked why the child was not in a child seat in the back, Chambers said the girl was being fussy, and she was driving her around to help her sleep.

A field sobriety test was performed on Chambers, but she failed to completely comply with instructions multiple times on several tests, according to the affidavit. The trooper then asked Chambers again if she had only one beer, and Chambers admitted she had drank a tallboy can of Budweiser and several mixed drinks of Kentucky Deluxe and Coke earlier in the night, according to the affidavit.

Chambers was taken into custody and booked at Garfield County Detention Facility, according to the affidavit. Chambers’ boy-friend was called and took custody of Chambers’ daughter.

She was given a breath test with the result of 0.17, nearly twice the legal limit.

Chambers, 47, was charged with felony child endangerment, which is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to four years in prison or both.

“This is the first time such a charge has been filed in Garfield County since the law was amended,” Assistant District Attorney Josh Davis said.

Chambers is free on $1,000 bond and was ordered to return to court Aug. 31 for a bond appearance.

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