Newport Police Charge Woman With DUI after Sideswiping Three Cars

A 55-year-old Portsmouth woman is facing charges of driving under the influence and refusing a chemical test after she allegedly crashed into several parked cars on Gould Street in Newport shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Police said they were dispatched to the area of 9 Gould Street at around 1:51 a.m. for a report of a motor vehicle accident and found Jeanne Marie Scott, of 14 Flint Corn Road, Portsmouth, sitting inside her Kia Sorrento.

Scott reportedly was grasping her steering wheel bleeding from her nose when police arrived.

When asked if she was alright, Scott reportedly began laughing and said that she thought she was somewhere in Middletown or Portsmouth.

Scott allegedly said she had left the Tavern on Broadway and when asked if she realized she had been in an accident, she laughed again and said “why does it matter? I’ll just leave,” according to a police report.

Scott showed signs of being heavily intoxicated, police said, and failed a field sobriety test at the scene.

An accident investigation showed Scott reportedly struck a car parked on the right side of Gould Street, breaking its tail lamp and pushing the car several feet forward into the rear bumper of another car. She then continued on and struck the second vehicle directly, causing severe damage to the entire driver’s side from quarter panel to fender, tearing off the gas cap, door handle and side mirror.

A third vehicle, a pick up truck, parked in front of the second vehicle was also sideswiped, causing minor scrapes along the lower portion of the driver’s side truck bed, door and fender.

Scott told police that she wasn’t driving, but confirmed that she was the only person in the car. Police said the inside of her car had belongings on the passenger and rear seats, making it ”very difficult and unlikely for any passenger to ride in her vehicle,” according to a police report.

Scott was taken into custody without incident and refused a chemical test. She later became argumentative and began yelling during the booking process, police said.

She was later released with a Jan. 7 Second Division District Court Date.