Arlington Woman Charged With OUI After Crash

ARLINGTON, MA — An Arlington woman was charged with drunken driving after a crash on Mass. Ave. Tuesday evening. Police were called to the scene shortly after 6 p.m. and told a gray Jeep had fled the scene.

The other driver involved in the crash told officers the Jeep went through a red light and struck the right side of her car as she turned onto Mass. Ave. from Thorndike Street, police said. A witness told officers she saw the Jeep back up through the intersection, turn onto Teel Street and return to Mass. Ave. when the driver realized Teel Street was a dead end, according to police.

Witnesses gave police a description of the driver and a partial description of the Jeep's license plate. Officers matched the partial registration to a gray Jeep Compass registered to 36-year-old Michelle Griffin.

Police went to Griffin's home and found the Jeep, which had front end damage consistent with the crash, red paint on the driver's side fender and glass from another vehicle on the windshield, according to the police report. When asked about the crash, Griffin told officers she had not driven the car and it had been parked in her driveway all day, police said.

Officers said Griffin smelled like alcohol and had slurred speech and glassy and bloodshot eyes. She was "extremely unsteady on her feet," according to police. Griffin denied the damage to her car happened that day and was "belligerent" toward officers, police said.

Griffin refused to take a field sobriety test and was placed into custody, police said. She was "extremely uncooperative" during the booking process, according to police.

Griffin refused to submit a chemical test at the station, police said. She was charged with OUI - first offense, operating a motor vehicle with license suspended, leaving the scene of property damage, driving an uninsured motor vehicle/trailer and operating a motor vehicle with registration suspended.