Woman crashed car into ditch, left dog inside, went to nearby restaurant: police

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A 21-year-old woman who admitted to leaving her dog in the backseat of a car she crashed into a ditch was cited by law enforcement on Monday.

Officers with the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded to a location off Johnnie Dodds Boulevard around 10:45 p.m. in reference to a vehicle in the ditch of a parking lot.

A sedan with heavy damage was found in the ditch, according to an incident report. But the driver was not at the scene.

The report indicates that officers also located a black Labrador in the back seat of the vehicle, noting that the vehicle was not running and the windows were rolled up.

While officers were still on the scene several hours later, the driver called the police and stated that she had wrecked her car earlier in the night. She told officers that she was intoxicated at the time of the crash and was unsure where her car was, according to authorities.

Officers met with the driver at a nearby restaurant where she admitted that she knew her dog was still in the car and that she had not checked on it since leaving the collision site, the report says.

The report notes that officers could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her, but “she was steady on her feet, did not slur her words, and did not appear to be grossly intoxicated at that time.”

The woman was issued a citation for animal care and mistreatment and the dog was returned to her.