Santa Clarita Mother Held On $200,000 Bail After DUI Arrest Involving 2 Children
SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA) -- A Santa Clarita woman is facing a felony child endangerment and is accused of DUI after allegedly driving drunk with two young children in the vehicle.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Valley Station said a witness saw the woman in an SUV and she appeared to be falling asleep at a stoplight around 6:30 p..m. on Tuesday.
The witness flagged down a deputy, who said they also spotted the SUV at a traffic light near Whites Canyon Road and Soledad Canyon Road.
Deputies said there was an infant on the woman's lap and a 5-year-old girl in the backseat without a seat belt, and that the woman appeared to have been falling asleep again.
Preliminary breath alcohol tests showed that the woman, identified as 30-year-old Melissa Mendoza, was at three times the legal driving limit, according to the LASD.
Mendoza was arrested for felony child endangerment likely to cause great bodily injury and misdemeanor driving under the influence. She is being held on $200,000 bail.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
