A 30-year-old Zumbrota woman will stay out of jail after being charged in Goodhue County District Court for
hitting several objects while drunk driving with a toddler in her vehicle
, provided she complies with her probation.
Ashley Rayann Bates pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated Thursday Feb. 23, 2023. Charges of endangering a child, an additional count of driving while intoxicated, both gross misdemeanors, and a misdemeanor count of colliding with an unattended vehicle were dismissed.
District Judge Patrick Biren ordered a stay of imposition in the case on Thursday, meaning that if Bates successfully completes her probation, her gross misdemeanor charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor, though the court reserves the right to order her to jail if she violates her probation.
Biren also ordered Bates to attend a victim impact panel, complete a chemical dependency evaluation and treatment, abstain from controlled substances and alcohol and submit to random testing.
Bates will be on supervised probation for two years.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officers with the Zumbrota Police Department were dispatched to the corner of Main Street South and Fifth Street East on Jan. 26, 2023, around 9:44 p.m. where they found a Ford Explorer leaning towards the passenger side in the middle of the street.
Bates, the driver of the vehicle, stepped out of the vehicle while it was still running and explained to the officer in slurred speech that she was just picking her son up from day care.
Witnesses told law enforcement that Bates’ vehicle had struck two parked cars and a building on Main Street South.
Her 20-month-old son was in the vehicle.
Bates denied the crashes and told an officer that she had consumed two alcoholic drinks.
She failed multiple field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test showed her with a .178 blood alcohol level.
Bates was arrested for driving while impaired and transported to the Goodhue Adult Detention Center. A more accurate breath test returned a .17 blood alcohol level for her around 10:35 p.m.
The complaint does not list any injuries.