A 17-year-old girl in the state of Michigan called 911 from the back seat of a vehicle to report her own mother drunk driving on Monday night, October 17. According to officers with decades of experience, they have never heard a 911 call quite like it.
The teen caller told the 911 operator that her mom was drunk and driving crazy with her and her little brother in the car. She added that they do not feel safe and need somebody to come find them.
The girl said her 15-year-old brother was also in the car's back seat. A man, described as a friend of the mother, was in the passenger's seat of the vehicle, according to WTVG.
Blissfield Police intercepted vehicle minutes after teen's 911 call
Dispatchers stayed on the line with the teen girl for about 10 minutes as she described her location along U.S. 223 as the car was passing through Blissfield. Officer Thomas Anton with Blissfield Police managed to intercept the car within minutes of the teen's 911 call. He said that he noticed the car swerving erratically before he intercepted it.
Anton said that the vehicle was going over the lines and almost hit another car next to it. He added that it came over the double yellow lines twice and nearly caused a head-on collision twice.
Cops were able to stop the car and took the drunk 45-year-old driver into custody, according to WTAP. Authorities have not yet released her name. Police officers took her to the Lenawee County Jail, where according to them, she blew twice the legal limit. The mom is expected to face a misdemeanor charge of operating while impaired.
Teen girl saves lives with her actions
The man in the passenger's seat of the car drove the kids to their grandmother's house, where they were both released into her custody. Anton credited the teen girl's actions, saying she saved many lives.
Anton said they were quite scared when their mom drove drunk down the road. He added that they were frightened for their mother's safety and theirs, so they decided to call 911 to ensure they saved their mom's life. Thanks to the quick thinking of the teen girl, no lives were lost.
She made the right move, as 29 people die every day in the United States in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver. That means one death is recorded every 50 minutes in the country due to car crashes caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. is estimated to be more than $44 billion.
