A Stafford woman was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail after deciding to drink and drive with children in the vehicle.

On October 30th, at approximately 10:10 p.m. Deputy S.C. Jett responded to a call of a possible drunk driver. The caller advised a silver SUV that was traveling westbound on Garrisonville Road was all over the roadway. The caller provided updates on where the vehicle was until Deputy Jett arrived on scene. Deputy Jett observed the vehicle failing to maintain the lane of travel and initiated a traffic stop.

As the vehicle stopped it narrowly missed striking a parked vehicle. The vehicle stopped on Cabin Court, where Deputy Jett made contact with the driver. The driver, Laura Cruz, 37, had glassy, bloodshot eyes and the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath. There were also two children in the vehicle with Cruz. One of the children was not properly restrained.

After a field sobriety test was conducted, Cruz was placed in handcuffs. The children were released to a sober family member. Cruz was charged with driving under the influence with children in the vehicle, two counts of felony child neglect, failure to maintain the lane of travel, and failure to restrain a child over eight years old. She was held at Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.

Drive sober or get pulled over. Thank you to the caller for helping get a drunk driver off the roadways.