A 30-year-old Kuna woman who left her three pre-teenage kids home alone for several hours early Wednesday morning before she got arrested for drunken driving is charged with three counts of felony injury to child.
Tabitha L. See is also charged with a misdemeanor count of DUI.
Kuna Police declared See’s three kids, all under the age of 10, to be in imminent danger. The kids were placed in the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Kuna Police and Ada County Sheriff’s deputies began their investigation just after 2 a.m. Wednesday after they got a call that See left her kids alone in their Linder Avenue apartment while she was under the influence of alcohol.
A Kuna police officer arrived at the apartment minutes later and saw lights on inside and could hear a TV or radio on. He knocked at the door several times but no one answered.
The officer looked for See’s car nearby and did not find it. He then parked where he could see the apartment and waited. It was just before 3:30 a.m. when he saw See pull up in her car and park by the apartment.
The officer walked up to See and saw she had glassy, bloodshot eyes. He also detected a strong odor of alcohol.
See failed two of three field sobriety tests minutes later. See then took a breath test, which determined she had a .133 blood alcohol content (BAC) level, which his more than Idaho’s legal BAC limit of .08.
While that was going on, officers checked on the kids and stayed with them until they were placed into state custody. Deputies arrested See and booked her into the jail, where she is being held without bond.
See’s initial court appearance is set for Thursday afternoon.
The crime of felony injury to child is punishable by up to 10 years in prison for each charge.