A 26-year-old Boise woman arrested for a DUI last weekend is charged with felony injury to child for leaving her 8-month-old son home by himself while she was driving.
Deputies arrested Brittney N. Jenkins on the felony warrant at her Boise home Wednesday. Jenkins was released from the Ada County Jail after posting a $50,000 bond.
Deputies began their investigation just before 11:15 p.m. Sunday after they saw a blue sedan moving erratically, including swerving out of the lane of travel on Lake Hazel Road near Five Mile Road.
Deputies pulled over the car and detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the driver, later identified as Jenkins.
Jenkins failed field sobriety tests and then took a breath test, where she registered a .17 blood alcohol content (BAC) level – which is over twice the legal BAC limit in Idaho of .08.
It was during that arrest when Jenkins told deputies she needed to get home to check on her son — and that her roommate was there. Deputies went to Jenkins’ home and discovered that the baby was left alone. They also found evidence Jenkins did not make arrangements for anyone to watch the baby for her when she left.
Deputies declared the child to be in imminent danger and placed him in the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Jenkins was charged with misdemeanor counts of DUI and Injury to Child and booked into the Ada County Jail Sunday night. She posted an $800 bond and was released hours later.
Ada County Prosecutors issued a warrant for Jenkins’ arrest Wednesday, changing the injury to child charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
The crime of felony injury to child is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Jenkins is set to make her initial court appearance on Tuesday.