Driver in DUI crash pleads guilty
SANDPOINT - A Sandpoint woman who crashed her car into Lake Pend Oreille in September has pleaded guilty to an amended charge of driving under the influence and was sentenced to four days in jail.
Christina C. Cady has the option of serving the time or converting it to 32 hours on the Sheriff’s Inmate Labor Program, according to court records. Judge Don Swanstrom placed Cady on probation for one year and ordered her to enroll in a substance abuse program and attend an Alcohol & Traffic Safety Victims Panel.
Cady’s license was suspended for 90 days, although she has been granted a temporary restricted license so she can travel to work and necessary appointments associated with her sentence.
Cady entered her plea and was sentenced on Dec. 12. Under the terms of the sentence, the conviction can be removed from her record upon successful completion of probation.
Cady, 43, was charged with excessive driving under the influence in connection with the Sept. 3 crash near the north end of the Long Bridge on U.S. Highway 95. An Idaho State Police report indicated her blood-alcohol concentration was measured at 0.23, which is nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.
In a plea agreement, the excessive BAC enhancement was dropped, court records show.
State police said Cady was northbound on the bridge when she sideswiped a southbound Toyota RAV-4 with her Ford Explorer, swerved to miss an oncoming tractor-trailer and vaulted a guardrail on the west side of the bridge.
Cady’s full-sized sport utility vehicle reportedly landed on its side in the lake and she was able to exit the rig. She was taken to Bonner General Hospital, where she was treated and released.
A Sagle couple in the crossover SUV Cady sideswiped was also treated and released following the crash.
Cady, 43, reportedly told a state trooper she remembered leaving the Long Bridge Grill, but recalled nothing about the collision. A witness told state police he saw Cady speed out of the parking lot and cross the center and fog lines as she drove toward Sandpoint, the report said.