WESTBOROUGH – A woman is facing several charges including OUI and child endangerment, after she was arrested while driving children to school.
According to the statement of facts filed with Westborough District Court, on Thursday, March 14, at 7:16 a.m., two officers went to 135 East Main St., the Park Village West Apartments, to conduct a well-being check on a bus driver. The bus company had called police saying the driver had been slurring her words prior to boarding the bus.
The bus was located just outside of Building M. A representative from the bus company was there, and spoke to one of the officers.
An officer approached the bus and knocked on the window. The driver, later identified as Jane Welch, 51, of Marlborough, opened the door to the bus. Police wrote that the officer noted “a slight odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from inside the bus.”
Welch was seated, and there were 25 to 30 children from Mill Pond Elementary in the bus.
The officer noted that her speech was slurred, and her eyes bloodshot and glassy. The officer also said that makeup was smeared all over her face.
Welch was then instructed to walk away from the bus and several bystanders to an area where the officer conducted field sobriety tests. Police said they determined that she was intoxicated, and Welch was placed into custody and transported to police headquarters. While there, she reportedly refused to provide a breath sample.
During booking, police allegedly found a half-dozen pills; police said she was unable to provide a prescription for any of the pills.
Welch was arrested on charges of OUI (liquor) as a second offense; negligent operation of a motor vehicle; child endangerment while OUI; and possession of Class E drugs.
She had been charged with OUI back in 2000.
