Arizona Woman Crashes Car Into Fence With Infant Daughter Inside, Empty Bottles Of Alcohol Found

A woman in Arizona, who crashed her car with her infant daughter into a fence, is suspected of driving drunk.

According to a probable cause statement, police responded near 35th Avenue and Sherman Street around 3.30 p.m. Monday (April 13) after receiving a crash report. The responding officers found a car up against a metal fence. The officers then found an infant sitting on a broken seat on top of the trunk. A witness, who saw the vehicle crashing into the fence, had pulled the girl out of the car.

The officers then got close to the vehicle and got a smell of alcohol. They searched the car and found two empty alcohol bottles inside the vehicle. Police said the infant’s mother, 33-year-old Sussan Lira, who was driving the car, wasn’t able to stand on her own and that she answered their questions with “slurred words.”

The woman was detained for questioning during which she said she drank two bottles of Mad Dog, a flavored wine, before the accident took place. She also told the officers that her friend had warned her against driving. She was booked on suspicion of aggravated DUI and endangerment. She was being held at Fourth Avenue Jail.

Meanwhile, court documents stated that the baby, who had bruising on her back, was in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety and will remain there till the police find another family member to look after her. Investigation into the case was ongoing and documents.

The incident comes a few days after an 18-year-old teen in South Carolina crashed with a two-month-old child in the car. The South Carolina Highway Patrol responded to a crash scene and spoke to 18-year-old Zada Mae Ayers, who told them that she had just picked up the infant from a friend’s home after consuming an anti-psychotic drug. When the officers approached the car, they got a smell of marijuana.

They searched the vehicle and found a small plastic bag of “what appeared to be marijuana sitting in plain view on a shelf above the glove box.” The accused was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, child endangerment and possession of marijuana.