Florida Woman Crashes Van With 4-Year-Old Child Inside While Driving Under Influence Of Alcohol

A Florida woman, who crashed her van with a four-year-old child inside while driving under the influence of alcohol, was charged Tuesday (May 12).

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to Highway 27 at Legacy Park Boulevard in Davenport on Tuesday after receiving a report of a single-vehicle crash. The officers made contact with the driver of the 2016 Dodge van at the scene. Police said the driver, 37-year-old Karla Del Rosari Camejo Quiva, appeared to be impaired and the officers could smell alcohol on her breath.

During the field sobriety test, the woman showed signs of alcohol impairment following which she was taken to the Polk County Jail. A breath test taken at the police station showed .155 and .164 blood alcohol content. Drivers in Florida are considered legally impaired if their blood alcohol level is more than .08.

The woman was taken into custody and charged with one count each of DUI and child neglect for endangering the child in the van when the crash took place. Nobody was injured in the incident.

"We are fortunate that this driver and the child weren't injured or killed. The child was turned over to family members, and we sincerely hope that this was a wake-up call for this drunk driver. Please, don't endanger yourself or others by driving impaired,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. The relationship between the woman and child was not clear.

The incident comes a month after a Florida woman was arrested in connection with an accident that killed her daughter. Leslie Joe Zeagler was driving a minivan with her daughter inside, when she blacked out following which the vehicle struck a palm tree and rolled. The three-year-old child was ejected from the vehicle and died on the spot.

Investigation found that there was no child restraint device in the vehicle and that the mother was “impaired by multiple controlled substances while operating the motor vehicle at the time of the crash.” She was taken into custody and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license.