911 Dispatcher Who Drove Drunk Receives Sentence

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A 911 dispatcher who fought with sheriff's deputies during her arrest after they pulled her over on suspicion of drunk driving has been sentenced following a plea agreement.

On Jan. 21, Nadene Letonya Smith, 42, of Reisterstown pleaded guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol and fleeing and eluding by failing to stop.

On Nov. 16, 2025, Harford County sheriff's deputies saw a dark-colored SUV heading east on Philadelphia Road that was driving over the double solid yellow lines and then reversed in the middle of a roundabout after heading in the wrong direction, according to court documents.

Sheriff's Deputy Kanner positioned himself behind the vehicle to try and stop it but the vehicle continued to drive through the center of the roundabout. Deputies pursued the SUV down Philadelphia Road into another roundabout where the driver lost control, headed off the road and rested in a grassy area. The driver was identified as Nadene Smith, who told deputies that she was a 911 dispatcher.

Smith was told to get out of the vehicle and as she did, deputies said she stumbled and fell. They noticed her eyes were red and glassy, and her speech was slurred. When asked where she was coming from, Smith refused to answer then eventually told deputies that she was coming from a co-workers bonfire where she drank two beverages that were 16% alcohol by volume, court documents stated.

While Smith agreed to standardized field sobriety testing, she refused to submit a breath test to measure her blood alcohol levels. Deputies said Smith showed signs of impairment during the field sobriety testing and therefore was arrested. At that time, Smith began belligerent with the deputies, which was captured on the in-car camera footage during her arrest, court documents showed.

Because of her conduct as a 911 dispatcher, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Melissa Moloney advocated for incarceration. Judge Donald Walter agreed and sentenced Smith to two years in prison, all suspended by 45 days to serve.

"Driving under the influence is a criminal offense that puts innocent victims at risk and one that my office always takes seriously. Some, but not all, first-time offenses result in probationary findings with conditions for treatment.

"However, when you couple that dangerous behavior with fleeing and eluding and mistreatment and threats directed toward our county’s law enforcement, incarceration becomes the only acceptable consequence, despite the defendant’s lack of record," said State’s Attorney Alison M. Healey. "The defendant’s behavior in this case was egregious, and we are grateful that Judge Walter agreed with us in imposing his sentence."