Mother Struck By Car Accused of Endangering Her Children, Public Drunkenness

Mary Catherine Friel, 41, of Lower Providence, is facing charges including public drunkenness, endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment in connection with a in Perkiomen Township, according to a Pottstown Mercury report.

On March 23, Friel and her two children, a 10-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, were struck by a car as they crossed Gravel Pike/Route 29 from Bridge Street. The three were treated for injuries.

at the scene allege in the arrest affidavit that, “while speaking with Friel, police noticed an odor of alcohol on her breath and observed her to have glassy, bloodshot eyes,” the story states.

Friel allegedly told police she had been drinking at the the previous night, the report continues. A blood test reportedly showed Friel had a blood-alcohol content of 0.14 percent at the time of the crash, the Mercury reports.

According to the Mercury report, Friel told police she did not see the car because she wasn’t wearing her glasses, which had broken the prior week.

The car’s driver, Catherine Anne Caroselli, 20, of Collegeville, saw Friel and her children enter the roadway and hit the brakes, but still struck the three, the story continues.

Friel is scheduled for a pre-trial conference Oct. 28 with Judge William J. Furber Jr., the Mercury states.

Read the full report here.