Driver drunkenly runs into concrete wall with child in car, officials say

MADISON, Wis. — A Madison woman faces her sixth drunken driving charge after hitting a concrete wall with a child in the vehicle, police said.

A witness saw a woman stagger to her car Saturday around 8:15 p.m. with a young boy, get in and drive into a concrete wall of the Capitol Square South parking garage at 113 S. Henry St., according to a release.

The witness told the driver she needed to park the car because she was drunk and had a child with her, but the woman tried to drive away, police said. A line of cars that had formed forced her to repark her car after she crashed.

The woman, 47-year-old Rita-Beth Sauer, got out of her car with the child and walked away, according to the release. The witness followed her and helped officers find her in the ramp.

Sauer was arrested on a tentative charge of sixth-offense drunken driving with a passenger under 16 years old. The child was turned over to a trusted adult.

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