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Sheriff's Deputy Nearly Struck By Red Wine Drinking DUI Driver With Kids In Virginia

Red wine in red Solo cups doomed a 25-year-old Maryland mother who was caught driving recklessly and drunk with kids in the car while traveling through Stafford County, police say.

Cluadia Sorto Ortiz

Cluadia Sorto Ortiz

Photo Credit: Stafford County Sheriff

Glenn Dale resident Claudia Sorto Ortiz had to be held behind bars over the holiday weekend after she was caught speeding and drifting off the roadway on Richmond Highway by members of the Stafford County Sheriff's Office.

The incident was reported shortly after 2:20 a.m. on Sunday morning when Ortiz sped past a deputy on duty who she nearly struck while failing to stay in her lane several times.

According to a spokesperson from the sheriff's office, Ortiz was stopped at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Aquia Town Center, and as the deputy approached her vehicle, he spotted two children in the back seat, one in a carseat that was improperly secured, and a second with no seatbelt on at all.

Ortiz advised the deputy that her questionable driving was "due to her wanting to get home," and she later copped to drinking two red Solo cups full of red wine.

She proceeded to fail Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, officials say, and she was placed under arrest after admitting she shouldn't have been driving drunk.

The Maryland native was charged with: 

  • Driving under the influence with a child present;
  • Refusal;
  • Two counts of transporting a child without a proper restraint device;
  • Reckless driving;
  • Two counts of felony child neglect.

She was held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.

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