An Urbana woman was arrested for drunk driving early Monday, June 2 after law enforcement responded to a reported disabled vehicle on the train tracks in the 7200 block of North County Road 9.
Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene and located a 2014 Kia Sorento that was parallel to the tracks on the northwest side of the railroad. Deputies confirmed the vehicle was not on the tracks.
The Kia’s driver, Marie Forsythe, 42, told deputies she had swerved to miss some deer, traveled off the road and struck a gravel barrier. The motorist said had been waiting for roadside assistance about three hours.
When asked why she didn’t call law enforcement about the incident, Forsythe said she thought a man residing across the road already had.
There was visible damage to the vehicle’s front fender and driver’s side tires, according to reports.
Deputies observed that the driver’s eyes were glassy and detected a faint odor of alcohol on her breath.
Forsythe initially said she hadn’t consumed any alcohol, but then told deputies she had one beer around 10 p.m.
The driver was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs after she failed portions of field sobriety testing, during which she had difficulty following deputies’ instructions.
During testing the driver stated she was going to fail and admitted to drinking a few beers.
Forsythe twice registered a 0.043 blood-alcohol content on breathalyzer tests at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. Although under the 0.08 legal limit, there were signs of impairment during field sobriety testing.
The driver, who was also citied for failure to control, was released to a sober driver.
