A Waukee woman was arrested for drunk driving in Adel Friday morning while her children were home alone.
Lisa Marie Paulson, 33, of 225 Waukee Ave., Waukee, was charged with third-offense OWI, three counts of child endangerment, failure to yield to emergency vehicle, driving while barred and interference with official acts.
The incident began shortly before 5 a.m. Friday in the 26000 block of U.S. Highway 6 in Adel, where a Dallas County Deputy Sheriff attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring with expired plates.
The deputy activated the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights, but the driver of the Honda, Paulson, allegedly “failed to yield,” according to court records, “traveling approximately half a mile before stopping.”
A record check showed Paulson was driving while barred.
The deputy allegedly observed “indications of impairment and an open container of alcohol in the vehicle,” according to court records.
Paulson failed field sobriety tests “and when she was being placed under arrest, she began resisting by attempting to walk away and pulling away from” the deputy, according to court records. Paulson “also began kicking the interior of the patrol vehicle.”
Paulson told the deputy “that she had left her three juvenile children at home unattended while she left town,” according to court records. She said she did not stop for the deputy “because she knew she would be arrested and needed to get home, but her passenger convinced her to pull over.”
Paulson is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $5,000 cash-only bond. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 25 in Dallas County District Court.
Paulson was convicted of first-offense OWI in 2018 in Dallas County District Court. She was convicted of second-offense OWI in 2021 in Dallas County District Court. She was convicted of interference with official acts in January 2022 Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
