DWI arrest
By Chief Patrick Burton, Licking Police Dept.
On March 21, 2021, at approximately 7:50 p.m., a Licking police officer was conducting routine patrol along South Main Street. The officer observed a black-in-color Chevrolet Cavalier veer into the northbound lane and continue traveling towards him. The officer activated the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens before swerving off the roadway and into the ditch, in an attempt to avoid a head-on collision with the oncoming vehicle. Contact was still made between the two vehicles and the patrol vehicle sustained minor damages to the entire length of the driver’s side. After the collision, the suspect’s vehicle continued to travel southbound on Main Street, narrowly missing several oncoming vehicles, to Glendale Street and then Green Street, where the driver eventually came to a stop in the middle of the roadway.
After additional investigations were conducted, it was determined the driver, Margaret Gleason, age 59, of Licking, Mo., was operating the motor vehicle in an intoxicated condition. Additional Licking police officers responded to the scene and assisted the Missouri State Highway Patrol with the investigation.
Gleason was taken into custody and transported to the Texas County Jail, where she was placed on a 24-hour hold pending the application of an arrest warrant. A Probable Cause Statement has been sent to the Texas County Prosecutor’s Office seeking charges of driving while intoxicated – chronic offender, careless and imprudent driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Fortunately, no injuries were sustained during this incident.
The charges for which the suspects are being accused are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented in front of a court of competent jurisdiction, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
