CASSELBERRY, Fla. – A woman faces DUI and child neglect charges after she crashed her vehicle with five children inside in Seminole County on Friday morning.
According to an arrest report, Casselberry police responded around 9:55 a.m. to a two-vehicle crash north of the intersection of State Road 436 and Carmel Circle.
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Police said they observed a Lexus RX and a Ford Explorer involved in a crash and asked to communicate with Yubetty Baez Collazo, the driver of the Explorer, but she could only speak Spanish. Officers also observed that she had trouble speaking clearly and slurred her words.
According to the report, there were five children in the back of Collazo’s vehicle.
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Deputies from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash and said they made contact with Collazo’s daughter, who advised that she did not know that “her mother was drinking until she was already in the vehicle driving with her.”
She told deputies that Collazo was driving erratically, swerving and driving side-to-side. According to the report, she asked her mother to pull over to let her and the children out of the vehicle, but Collazo refused, and that is when the crash happened.
After the crash, Collazo took her bottle of beer and threw it in the back seat of the vehicle, her daughter said. Deputies said they found the bottle where the daughter described.
Seminole County Fire Rescue responded and noted that Collazo smelled of alcohol, appeared to be intoxicated, slurred her words and had dilated pupils.
According to the report, when officers tried to conduct a DUI investigation, Collazo failed to listen to orders and tried to walk away from the scene.
While being placed in handcuffs, she pulled away from officers multiple times and also resisted being placed into a police vehicle.
Police said once she was in the vehicle, Collazo attempted to lay on her stomach, and when officers tried to sit her up, she kicked one of them with her foot on their shin and began shouting insults and profanities in Spanish.
Deputies said they searched Collazo’s car and located a small bag of marijuana before she was transported to the Seminole County jail. Deputies said that while being taken to the jail, she continued to kick the vehicle, even after being restrained further.
According to the report, field sobriety tests were not conducted due to Collazo’s current state, but she was unable to walk properly, did not listen to commands and was aggressive.
While at the Seminole County jail, a breath test revealed an alcohol level of .077, and Collazo admitted to smoking marijuana about 25 minutes before she spoke to deputies. Anything above .08 is against the law in Florida.
Collazo faces charges of battery on an officer, resisting arrest, five counts of child neglect and DUI in relation to the crash. She is held on bond of $24,000.
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