Drunk Mom & Drunk Dog Show Up At School To Pick Up 10 Year Old

[matcom]

<snip>

ISLAND LAKE - Police said an Island Lake woman was not the only one drunk in the car she drove this week to pick her son up from elementary school.

Her 4-month-old Chihuahua, named Chico, also might have been intoxicated, police said.

"It's definitely not something you see every day," Island Lake Police Chief John Fellmann said. "It's nothing I've ever seen before."

Diane Marcotte, 49, of 803 Plymouth Lane, was charged Monday with drunken driving and two counts of child endangerment.

Police say Marcotte had her 3-year-old daughter in the car and was picking up her 10-year-old son from the Cotton Creek School, 545 Newport Court, Island Lake, which is east of McHenry.

McHenry County Animal Control is expected to file animal cruelty charges against Marcotte, McHenry County prosecutors said. If convicted on the drunken driving and child endangerment charges, she could face a $2,500 fine and a year in jail.

Marcotte drove to the school about 3:40 p.m. Monday, passed a row of parked buses and drove onto the school's sidewalk, Fellmann said.

"She was saying that her dog was having a seizure and that is why she needed to park there," Fellmann said. "But it wasn't having a seizure. It was drunk."

Dr. Edin Mehanovic, animal control administrator, said animal control officials cannot say definitively whether the animal was intoxicated until after blood results are returned. It is suspected that the dog was drunk, Mehanovic said.

After police said they smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from Marcotte, they conducted field sobriety tests on her, and she failed them, Fellmann said. Marcotte refused to submit to a breath test, Fellmann said.

" could also smell alcohol coming from the dog," Fellmann said. "It seemed to be pretty evident that it was drunk."

Fellmann said the dog got sick while they were waiting for animal control to arrive at the scene.

http://archive.nwherald.com/archive_detail.php?archiveFile=./pubfiles/kcc/archive/2006/March/16/Main/52134.xml&start=0&numPer=20&keyword=school+drunk+dog§ionSearch=&begindate=1%2F1%2F2000&enddate=12%2F31%2F2006&authorSearch=&IncludeStories=1&pubsection=&page=&IncludePages=&IncludeImages=&mode=allwords&archive_pubname=Kane+County+Chronicle%0A%09%09%09

[benburch]

1. Poor dog! nt