A woman was arrested on Monday after she hit a tree and was found to be intoxicated while driving with her daughter in the car, police reported.
On Monday around 4 p.m., officers responded to the 3500 block of Edison Road for a car accident. Police said when they arrived, another officer was speaking with a woman and a child. One officer spoke to a man who said he saw a car drive down Edison Road and hit a tree.
An officer reported he responded to the scene and noticed heavy front-end damage to the car after hitting a large tree head-on. All the air bags deployed. The child had abrasions on her face, police said, as well as blood coming from her forehead.
The officer said the woman repeatedly ignored him while she was on the phone. The woman, identified as Tiana Jackson, told police she was speaking with her insurance company. Police said her behavior was erratic at times and she did not appear to be concerned about her child.
Though Cleveland Heights Fire Department was helping the child and asking for assistance from her mother, Jackson continued to talk to someone on the phone, police said.
Police said they eventually noticed the smell of alcohol Jackson. Officers took the child to Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital for evaluation. After continuing with her erratic behavior, officers told Jackson they believed she was impaired and needed to complete a few field sobriety tests. Police said Jackson was reluctant and was more concerned with being on her phone.
Signs of impairment were noticed during each test, police reported. Jackson was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was taken to Cleveland Heights City Jail. While being placed in custody, police said Jackson mumbled something about "one drink."
In addition to the OVI charge, a complaint for child endangering was signed by one of the officers since she was driving while intoxicated with her daughter in the car.
