Apple Valley Woman's BAC Allegedly 2.5 Times Legal Limit While Driving Her Kids

An woman has been charged with driving with a blood-alcohol content two and a half times the legal limit, with her 2- and 4-year-old children in the car.

Rinda Por, 26, is charged with two counts of second-degree driving while intoxicated. The charges are gross misdemeanors, each with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Police Detective Mark Gullickson, an airport officer on patrol just after 2 a.m. July 26 saw a car on Interstate 494 near Highway 77 traveling below the posted minimum speed limit of 40 mph.

The car apparently crossed the solid white line on the right side of the highway twice and then overcorrected to the solid white line on the left, according to the complaint, and the officer stopped the vehicle, which Por was driving.

Por’s children, ages 2 and 4, were in child restraint seats in the car, and Por’s eyes appeared bloodshot and watery, according to the complaint.

The officer asked Por to submit to a preliminary breath test, which she initially failed because she put her tongue on the mouthpiece, according to the complaint. On her second try, she allegedly registered a blood-alcohol content of .206 percent, two and a half times the legal limit of .08 percent, the complaint charges.

Por was arrested, but wouldn’t follow directions on how to provide an adequate breath sample for another breath test, the complaint says, sucking back on the breathalyzer’s mouthpiece and depositing large amounts of saliva into the device.

After the officer demonstrated how to provide a sample, Por tried three more times and finally provided an adequate breath sample just after 4 a.m., registering a blood-alcohol content of .19 percent, the complaint says.

Por is free on a $12,000 bond. She is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charges Aug. 10 in Hennepin County District Court.