The deputy police chief of Lancaster County, Neb., revealed Monday that a woman was arrested after her teen daughter called authorities to tell them her mother was driving drunk.
“She was scared,” said Houchin of the teen who made the call. He added that the situation “turned out the best it could and the 13-year-old is safe.”
It was around 6 p.m. when deputies were dispatched to Highway 77, where the teen said her 38-year-old mother was drunk and driving recklessly. They found the woman, identified by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office as Brittany Borrell of Lincoln, Neb. Her daughter was outside of the vehicle, crying.
Houchin said the 13-year-old reported that her mother was at one point driving 95 mph.
“Deputies noticed signs of alcohol impairment in Borrell and completed a DUI investigation,” said the chief deputy. He said they also found an open bottle of brandy in the car. Borrell was arrested but could not immediately be lodged in jail because she became unresponsive. She was taken to the hospital, where a blood test was performed.
As of Monday morning, authorities were still awaiting results from the test, Houchin told reporters. Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a person’s alcohol level is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a certain volume of blood, or their Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).
“A BAC of .08 grams of alcohol per deciliter (g/dL) of blood, crash risk increases exponentially,” said the administration. “Because of this risk, it’s illegal in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher, except in Utah where the BAC limit is .05.”
In 2022 alone, 2,337 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where a driver had a BAC of .01 to .07 g/dL.
Borrell was taken to jail after being cleared from the hospital. She was charged with felony child abuse, DUI with willfully reckless driving, DUI with a passenger under the age of 16, and possession and consuming open alcohol in a vehicle.
“Very sad,” said Houchin of the incident. “It would take a lot for a 13-year-old to call in on their mother. She must have been horrified and I feel very bad for her,” he said. “But, she did make a good decision.”
Of those killed in alcohol related crashes in 2020, 62% were drivers, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That year, 229 children up to 14 years old were killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver, accounting for 21% of all traffic-related deaths among children in that age range.
Anyone who is or knows someone dealing with a substance abuse issue can get help from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration hotline at 1-800-622-4357.