Police: North Little Rock woman arrested after found drunk in Waffle House parking lot with grandson in car

Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson

A North Little Rock woman who was found passed out in a car in a Waffle House parking lot with her grandson on her lap was arrested Friday night, police said.

Officials responded to the restaurant at 4517 Camp Robinson Road because of a suspicious vehicle in the lot honking its horn, according to a police report.

An officer wrote in the report that Janice Johnson, 48, was passed out in the front seat of a parked 1999 Toyota Avalon about 10 p.m. The vehicle was reportedly running, its lights were on, and its doors were unlocked. A witness told the officer that she noticed the vehicle parked in the lot about 8:30 p.m.

According to police, a minor, later identified as Johnson's grandson, was found sitting in her lap.

In the report, police said it took "numerous attempts" to get Johnson to wake up.

When she did, she reportedly told police that she took custody of her grandson about noon that day. She said she drank three to four 32-ounce beers that day before placing her grandson in the back seat and driving less than 1 mile from the Bluffs apartment complex at 431 McCain Blvd. to the Waffle House, where she passed out.

Officers observed four to five unopened 32-ounce cans of beer in the vehicle.

Johnson was not able to complete the standardized field sobriety tests, police said. She was arrested on charges of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, DWI and refusal to submit to a blood alcohol contest test.

She was listed on the Pulaski County jail roster as of 4 p.m. Monday and is being held in lieu of $1,500 and $2,500 bonds.

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