Drunken mother runs over her baby

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

THOREAU — A 37-year-old woman allegedly ran over her 6-month-old son May 2, while driving drunk.

The baby was flown to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, according to Crownpoint-based Navajo Police Sgt. Delfred Begaye’s report. Initial reports said that the baby had a broken back; Begaye called the hospital several hours after the incident, however, and was told that the child broke his ankle and will be fine.

According to Begaye’s report, police responded to the incident, on County Road 27 near Thoreau, at about 5 p.m. Angela Yazzie, 37, told Begaye that she didn’t know her son had followed her outside, and that she had driven over him in an S-10 pickup. The boy was born Oct. 19, 2008, making him only 6 months old.

“The kid wouldn’t even be old enough to crawl,” Dr. John Ratmeyer, deputy chief pediatrician at Gallup Indian Medical Center said. “That doesn’t sound possible.”

Yazzie said she then took the boy to her aunt’s house in Smith Lake. Begaye reports that Yazzie appeared intoxicated — a status confirmed by a field sobriety test, and later by a Breathalyzer, which showed her blood-alcohol content to be .19 — more than double the legal limit to drive.

Begaye arrested Yazzie for being under the influence of intoxicating liquor, driving under the influence, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated battery, neglecting her duty to render aid and failure to immediately report an accident, according to the report.