A pair of intoxicating morning cocktails didn’t deter a local mom from picking up a pair of students on March 21 from Mamie Whitesides Elementary despite being visibly drunk. A call for service prompted the Mount Pleasant Police Department to locate the allegedly impaired motorist at the school, where she was questioned, tested and collared on charges of DUI, carry an open container and child endangerment.
The suspect, identified as Monica Dynak, a 40-year-old White female, was reportedly found in the car driver line on school grounds with two children already seated in her Toyota Corolla.
Upon engaging the alleged offender, police noted slurred speech, an alcoholic beverage odor emanating from her person and the presence of an alcoholic beverage in the car’s center console, as detailed in a corresponding department incident report.
When asked about her day’s activities, Dynak mentioned visiting an Isle of Palms eatery, where she indulged in a pair of frosés (a fruity rosé and vodka concoction) at about 10:30 a.m. In addition, she had also taken an ibuprofen capsule and/or tablet before going to work and picking up her child and a friend from school.
While administering Standard Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) on Dynak, police reported the woman’s unsteady gait and a back-and-forth sway.
The police write-up went on to describe their attempts to communicate instructions for test.
“I proceeded to explain the starting position to Ms. Dynak. On multiple occasions, she was unable to keep her balance while doing this. When she did get in the starting position, she proceeded to begin walking and I advised her that I had not told her to begin the task,” read the report.
“Once complete, I asked if she understood all the instructions to which she advised that she did and I advised her to begin. Ms. Dynak walked a total of 14 steps the first way down, turned incorrectly, used her arms for balance, stepped offline and took 11 steps back the other way.”
Following her struggles to recite a specific sequence of numbers, the responding officers cuffed the subject, issued her a court date and transported the mother of one to jail.
DSS (Department of Social Services) was notified of the presence of Dynak’s child in the incident. Similarly, the parents of the other youngster were informed of the arrest.
