A suspected drunken driver is accused of plowing into several pedestrians in central Arkansas, seriously injuring a 1-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman who were airlifted to hospitals, police said.
The Hot Springs Police Department said officers arrested 72-year-old Louise Young after she allegedly hit five people around 5:30 p.m. on Monday while pulling her car into a parking space in the 600 block of Higdon Ferry.
Officials said Young appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test. She reportedly told police that she had meant to step on her brakes instead of the gas pedal.
Medical crews airlifted one of the women and the child she allegedly hit to CHI St. Vincent hospital in Little Rock. The woman is listed in critical condition Tuesday while authorities described the child’s injuries as “serious.”
Young told officers under questioning she had drunk two to three shots of vodka, police said.
She had bloodshot watery eyes and was unsteady while standing, an officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
After failing a sobriety test, Young reportedly said: "Take me to jail" before officers took her to the Garland County jail, according to the document.
Young faces a DWI charge, and police said additional charges could follow pending the results of a blood test.
Police were unable to provide an initial blood alcohol result during her arrest.
County jail records didn't list Young as an inmate.
A call to a phone number listed as Young's wasn't immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.