Mother arrested after driving drunk with 3 children in car, report says

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A Maryville mother was arrested after driving drunk with three children in the car, according to a Knoxville Police Department report.

On Sunday, a person called 911 to report that a mother and three children were on the side of James White Parkway at West Hill Avenue. When officers arrived, they found a Dodge Caravan blocking the road. The rear driver-side bumper was dragging the ground as if it had been wrecked, the report said.

When officers spoke with the driver, later identified as Amber Martin, they saw three small children in the backseat. Officers noted that Martin had bloodshot watery eyes and was unsteady on her feet with the smell of alcohol and burnt marijuana coming from her.

The report said Martin was unable to complete even the most basic tasks such as unlocking her vehicle. Martin told officers that she didn’t know how her vehicle became disabled.

Martin refused to take sobriety tests and to give blood. Officers searched the vehicle and found a half-full 187 milliliter of Sutter Home Wine in the driver-side door. In the passenger side of the vehicle, officers found a red backpack containing several empty bottles of wine, and the report said the odor of burnt marijuana was present inside the car.

The passenger of the vehicle, identified as Carmen Kerley, threw a cigarillo pack out of the window. The report said that officers asked Kerley to pick the package up, but she refused. She also refused to step out of the car.

When officers went to remove her from the car, she punched one officer in the leg, according to the report. When officers went to put her into the police cruiser, she kicked another officer in the chest.

The report said she also spit on another officer, telling him that she knew his face and was going to kill his family. Kerley also told police that she cannot wait to find out where an officer lives and that she was going to shoot him in the head, according to the report.

A DCS referral was made for the three children, who were all under the age of 8. Both Kerley and Martin were taken into custody.

Martin was charged with three counts of child abuse/neglect/endangerment of 8 years or less, driving under the influence and financial responsibility law.

Kerley was charged with three counts of assault on a first responder, offense of mitigated criminal littering, resisting stop/arrest/search with no weapon and two counts of retaliating for past action.

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