Woman who drove off road with kids in vehicle charged

A 33-year-old Grafton woman who drove off the road and hit a mailbox with three children in her vehicle last week faces drunken driving charges.

Rebekah D. Bard-Carvalho is charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with first-offense operating while intoxicated causing injury with a child in the vehicle, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of first-offense operating under the influence with a child in the vehicle.

According to a criminal complaint, Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy Ryan Swendson was dispatched at 4:59 p.m. Monday, June 8, to the scene of an accident on Woodland Drive in the Town of Grafton, where he found a vehicle in a ditch.

The vehicle appeared to have been headed west when it left the road and hit a mailbox.

Bard-Carvalho, the driver of the vehicle, told Swendson she was focusing on her cell phone and not the road when she crashed. In the vehicle at the time were three children, ages 1, 4 and 6. The 6-year-old was treated by first responders for a cut on her arm. The other two children were not injured, the complaint states.

Bard-Carvalho, who Swendson noticed smelled of alcohol, said she drank a beer before picking up two of the children and said she had a mixed vodka drink with her in the vehicle, according to the complaint.

While performing field sobriety tests, Bard-Carvalho “demonstrated sufficient indicators of impairment,” the complaint states.

A preliminary breath test indicated she had an alcohol level of .13, while another type of breath test indicated her alcohol level was .11 — both higher than the legal limit of .08, according to the complaint.

During a June 9 court hearing, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain set Bard-Carvalho’s bail at $500 and ordered her to submit to constant alcohol monitoring or regular breath testing. Court records indicate she posted bail and was released from jail later that day.