Mother arrested after collision with van
Police charge her with operating under influence
A Milton mother was arrested and her two children were placed in Department of Social Service care yesterday after the car she was driving collided with a van, which then overturned. Police said she was operating under the influence of alcohol.
Her two children and the van's driver were taken to the hospital. Police did not consider the injuries serious.
The mother, Denise Egerton, 41, was charged with operating under the influence, speeding, and driving without a license. She was in police custody last night after failing to post bail and is expected to be arraigned Monday in Boston Municipal Court.
The accident occurred just before 9 a.m. yesterday, near the intersection of Blue Hill and Woodrow avenues in Dorchester. Police Officer Sara Dorsey was on scene on an unrelated matter when she heard the accident, turned, and saw a 2005 Chrysler van go airborne, overturn, and land on its left side. Inside the van, she found a 25-year-old unidentified woman from Dorchester, covering her face with her hands, according to police reports.
Egerton told Dorsey that she was driving the car that hit the van, according to the reports. She said she was driving northbound on Blue Hill Avenue when the van, driving southbound, attempted to make a left turn onto Woodrow Avenue, crossing in front of her car. She said she hit the van in the rear while it was making a turn.
Witnesses, however, told police that Egerton was speeding, according to court records. Witnesses said Egerton was following another car and attempted to speed by that car when it had stopped in front of her. The driver of the car in front of her had stopped to let the van pass, waving it by. Egerton sped around the car and crashed into the van, witnesses told police.
Police conducted a field sobriety test after smelling alcohol on Egerton's breath, court records said. The records indicated that she failed the test and admitted to drinking beer in the morning.
The children, ages 1 and 4, were brought to Boston Medical Center and referred to DSS care, said police spokesman David Estrada. 