Alleged drunk driver was looking for AA meeting before Rock Hill hit-and-run

A Rock Hill woman charged with DUI after a hit-and-run collision Wednesday was reportedly at a church looking for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting before the crash, according to Rock Hill Police.

The hit-and-run happened about 8:40 p.m. on the 400 block of Oakland Avenue, according to a police report. The victim said the driver of the Ford Mustang that struck her car appeared to be intoxicated and fled.

Officers tracked the suspect down using the tag number provided by the victim, police said. The suspect exhibited signs of intoxication and smelled of alcohol when she opened the door for officers. She denied any knowledge of the collision, which caused no damage to her vehicle and little damage to the victim’s vehicle.

The suspect said she drank two mini bottles of whiskey after arriving home, but officers determined the 15 minutes between the collision and their arrival at her home was inconsistent with her level of impairment, the report states. She refused sobriety testing and was charged with DUI.

A witness who was teaching a class at a church near where the crash happened said the suspect knocked on the classroom door while she was teaching, police said. The suspect said she was looking for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The witness said she could clearly see the suspect was intoxicated and walked outside with her, where she told her the church no longer holds AA meetings, police said. She added that she didn’t realize the suspect was driving until she saw her get into a car, at which point she wrote down the tag number and called police.

No injuries were reported in the collision, and the victim declined completion of a collision report.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Alleged drunk driver was looking for AA meeting before Rock Hill hit-and-run."