Woman Caught Drinking While Driving Moped With Juvenile Passenger: Meriden Police

MERIDEN, CT — A 35-year-old woman was arrested after police said she was caught drinking while operating a moped with a juvenile passenger last Thursday in Meriden.

Police said officers were conducting directed surveillance in the downtown / Green area around 9:55 p.m. on Nov. 5 when they saw the woman operating the moped on Pratt Street “without eye protection.”

The woman’s juvenile passenger also didn’t have eye protection and wasn’t wearing a helmet, according to police.

The woman stopped in a lot on Pratt Street, where police said officers witnessed what they believed to be a hand-to-hand narcotic transaction with an unidentified man.

After the transaction, police said the woman retrieved what they believed to be a liquor bottle from and began “consuming the beverage while remaining on the operable moped with the juvenile on back.”

Police said the woman was found to be in possession of narcotics and alcohol.

“She exhibited signs and symptoms of impairment,” police wrote. “She was administered the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, and as a result, was arrested.”

The woman was charged with drinking while operating a motor vehicle, risk of injury to a minor, possession of a controlled substance, no motorcycle endorsement, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating without insurance, and failure to use face protection. She was released after posting a $20,000 bond.