A woman who recorded a breath test result nearly four times the legal limit allegedly admitted to drink-driving before driving off and smashing up a car.
Natalie Joy Felding, 43, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning charged with level four drink-driving, not giving particulars to the owner of damaged property after a crash and damaging property worth more than $1000.
Police claimed at about 9pm on Monday night, a Taylor man approached a woman who had parked her green Holden Commodore in his driveway.
The driver, alleged to be Felding, told him she was having car problems and would call someone for help.
But when the man heard the car fail to start on several occasions, he checked on the driver, who allegedly told him she had been drinking.
According to police, despite the man urging the woman not to drive but call for help, she drove off at about 9.40pm. The man then called police.
ACT Policing said officers patrolled Taylor at about 10pm, and found a black Ford Mustang with damage to its front wheel and fender.
"Following skid marks from the Mustang, officers located a green Holden Commodore with front passenger side damage about 250 metres away," police said.
"About 10.50pm, police observed a woman walking towards the registered address of the green Commodore's owner.
"The woman refused to answer questions in relation to the location of her vehicle, and after she was cautioned and arrested, a search located keys matching the Commodore on her person."
Police said the woman returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.194 and was served with an immediate suspension notice, suspending her ACT licence for 90 days.
Detective Inspector Dave Craft said he was frustrated by the incident.
"There's no justifiable reason to drink and drive, especially at levels like this," he said.
"It's fair to say it's just luck that it was only a couple of damaged cars in this case, instead of someone being seriously injured or killed."
In court, Felding's lawyer, Priyanka Koci, applied for bail without opposition and said no pleas had been entered over the charges yet.
Magistrate Louise Taylor imposed bail conditions, which included not allowing Felding to drive and requiring her to submit to Court Alcohol and Drug Assessment Service monitoring and treatment.
Felding is due back in court on July 18.
