KTRV Fox 12 Drunk Driver Hits Boise Teen
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Boise, Idaho -- A young Boise woman is fighting to recover from some very serious injuries after she was hit by a drunk driver Sunday night.
In this case, the victim was standing outside her car when the accident happened.
Her family is now using this as an example for others who may right now be deciding whether or not to drive drunk.
Friends and family of Christie Robinson describe her as a fun loving person who, as a 19 year old, was just beginning to branch out, in the middle of an ongoing job hunt and preparing for college.
Then Sunday night her parents, Harold and Dana Robinson say Christie left for a friend's house only to call a few minutes later.
"Yeah, she called me. She said she'd been in a minor fender bender. There was a blood-curdling scream and she heard the phone hitting the road," explained Harold and Dana.
While standing by her car and waiting for police to arrive on the accident scene of the accident, Christie was hit by a drunk driver.
According to police, that woman is 36-year-old Tiffany Childs. Now Christie is in a nearby hospital in a medically induced coma, fighting to recover from life-threatening injuries.
"She's got a black eye, tubes everywhere, a pressure nozzle coming out the top," said Dana.
"It was a very violent collision between the vehicle and the woman. The woman was literally thrown into the air," explained Lynn Hightower, Boise Police Department spokesperson.
"She was quite a ways from her car when she landed," said Terri Waklee.
Waklee lives near Roosevelt and Alpine -- right across the street from where the accident occurred.
She heard the collision from inside her home and came running out to see Christie barely alive.
"The young girl that was in the white car was laying in the middle of the road. She had been hit by a girl in a green car driving without her lights on," said Waklee.
Not only was Childs allegedly driving drunk, witnesses say she was driving blind with no lights, no way to see the road, or Christie.
Police took Childs into custody.
"She was arrested, got to the county jail and blew a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit," explained Hightower. "And apparently, in searching Boise Police records, this is not her first drunk driving arrest."
Childs has DUI charges dating as far back as 1997 and 1998 -- obviously upsetting news to the victim's parents who say enough is enough.
"I want her to go to prison for a long, long time," said Harold.
"I'm just tired of hearing about this on the news," added Dana. "People that have been arrested over and over, and yet they're still out there drinking and driving."
Boise Police are also hoping more people will start taking notice of stories like this and change their behavior when it comes to drinking and driving.
With all their prevention efforts, police say DUI arrests have already reached well over 2,000 for the year. Quite a large number, considering that same amount of arrests occurred the entire year of 2007, and there are still nearly four months left in 2008.
