Bakersfield woman charged with DWI, child endangerment related to rollover crash

Bakersfield resident Elizabeth Meskimen, 36, has been charged with driving while intoxicated (prior offender), three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and operating a vehicle in a careless manner involving an accident in connection with a Valentine’s Day crash.

She is scheduled to make her initial court appearance before Associate Circuit Judge Raymond Gross at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 11. 

 

Dispatched to a rollover crash

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper D. Nash, the officer was dispatched to a crash on Highway 101 near State Highway O in Bakersfield. 

“When I arrived on scene, first responders notified me the people involved in the crash were inside a pickup truck to stay warm due to the extremely cold temperatures,” Nash wrote in the report, referring to this year’s particularly cold and snowy Valentine’s Day. “The first responders also stated the driver was on drugs or alcohol.”

The crash report says Meskimen was traveling northbound on Highway 101 at 6:40 p.m. Feb. 14 in a 1997 Chrysler Sebring when she ran off the right side of the roadway, and the vehicle overturned. The report says a 10-year-old boy was injured in the crash. The vehicle, a total loss, was towed from the scene. 

 

A strong scent of alcohol

Nash went to the pickup to speak with Meskimen and the three children. 

“Meskimen seemed slow to react to the overhead light when I opened the door. Her movements were lethargic, and her speech was slurred and raspy. Her eyes were glassy, and I could smell a moderate odor of intoxicants coming from inside the vehicle.”

Nash asked Meskimen to walk to his patrol vehicle to continue the investigation. 

“As she hopped out of the pickup truck, her balance was uncertain as she used the truck to balance herself. She walked to my patrol car and entered the passenger side door, as she sat down she used the seat to keep her balance as well,” Nash wrote. “Once Meskimen was in my patrol car, as she spoke to me I could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from her breath.”

Meskimen reportedly told the officer, “I’m sorry for your troubles,” and the officer asked her how much alcohol she’d had to drink that day. She told Nash she’d drunk two beers, the report says.

“I know better. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so stupid,” Meskimen then told the officer. 

Nash told the woman he could smell a strong scent of alcohol from her breath and asked if she would perform field sobriety tests.

Meskimen answered, “‘I don’t know. What do you think?’” Nash wrote. 

 

Field sobriety and breath test

The officer performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test. 

“I positioned my finger approximately 12-15 inches in front of her face and slightly above her eyes. I asked her to follow my finger with her eyes and only her eyes. She said she understood,” Nash wrote. “Meskimen’s eyes tracked equally, and her pupils were equal in size. Meskimen showed lack of smooth pursuit in both eyes, distinct nystagmus at maximum deviation in both eyes, onset nystagmus prior to 45 degrees in both eyes, and vertical nystagmus in both eyes. I had to remind Meskimen multiple times to not move her head and to focus on my finger.”

After conducting the HGN test, Nash asked Meskimen to provide a sample of her breath to be tested for alcohol content. She complied and told the officer, “Whatever you want me to do.”

The breath sample indicated that Meskimen’s breath was positive for alcohol, showing a blood alcohol content of .327 percent. 

It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent in Missouri, meaning Meskimen’s blood alcohol content was more than four times the legal limit. 

Nash placed Meskimen in handcuffs and informed her at 7:25 p.m. that she was under arrest for driving while intoxicated. She was transported to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. 

At 8:45 p.m. Nash read Meskimen Missouri’s implied consent law and requested another sample of her breath. She agreed, the report says, and gave a second sample of her breath, which revealed a blood alcohol content of .260 percent. 

She was placed on a 12-hour hold and released. 

 

Potential punishment

Meskimen’s charges include five class A misdemeanors. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Meskimen could face punishment of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. 

The complaint filed by Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant indicates that Meskimen is charged as a prior offender based on a Sept. 23, 2019, conviction of driving while intoxicated in Howell County.  The prior offender status means Meskimen will be required to serve at least 10 days’ imprisonment if convicted before she’s eligible for probation or parole. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423