RACINE – A Racine woman was in custody on numerous charges after allegedly causing a traffic accident and fleeing the scene on Sunday.
Catherine M. Rios, 42, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (4th offense), operating a vehicle with a revoked license, three counts of attended vehicle hit-and-run and possession of THC.
According to the criminal complaint, a 2010 Chevrolet driven by Rios struck the rear of a vehicle causing a chain reaction crash involving two additional vehicles in traffic at Douglas Avenue and High Street. Rios drove away from the accident scene. Racine Police located her car, which had sustained heavy front-end damage, stalled out near 17th Street and Quincy Avenue. Rios was attempting to restart the car when approached by the officer.
An officer could smell “a strong odor of intoxicants” and noticed that “Rios had slow and slurred speech,” the complaint stated. Rios failed field sobriety tests. In a later search of her car that “smelled off marijuana,” police found 12.7 grams of THC gummies and 18.6 grams of a substance that tested positive for THC.
Rios was held in the Racine County Jail as of Monday afternoon.
