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Police: Woman forced car off road with infant grandchild in backseat

Altoona Mirror

A Martinsburg woman faces charges she was high when she forced another vehicle off the road while her infant grandchild was in the backseat of her car.

Danielle M. Marlett, 43, of 395 Keithly Place, Martinsburg, is accused of having a high level of alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax, in her system after the incident March 8 on I-99.

According to state police, Marlett was driving her husband’s 200 Dodge Stratus north on I-99 about 11:15 a.m., south of the Plank Road exit, when she swerved into the right lane, forcing a pickup truck to veer away from her car and sideswipe an object on the edge of the road.

The driver followed Marlett, who exited at Plank Road, to the Sheetz parking lot near the Meadows intersection, police said. In Marlett’s car was her 20-year-old daughter and 7-month-old grandchild, police said.

Police said Marlett told the driver, who confronted her about the damage to his Ford F-150 truck, that she would pay for the damage but didn’t want to involve the insurance companies or the police. The driver of the truck then called police.

A responding state trooper alleges Marlett had glassy eyes, slurred speech and swayed when she stood. She also claimed the limited licensed status on her driver’s license had been dropped in January, but police learned through PennDOT that the limited status still applied and that Marlett was also required to drive a car equipped with an interlock ignition device due to a previous DUI.

The car she was driving did not have the interlock device, state police noted in the charges. A limited driver’s license is for drivers with suspended licenses that only permits them to drive for work or other limited circumstances, such as driving for medical treatment.

A subsequent blood test showed Marlett had alprazolam in her system above the allowable therapeutic levels allowed under the vehicle code, police said.

Marlett is charged with a second offense DUI of a controlled substance, DUI impaired driving and two counts related to driving without an interlock device.

Marlett was charged by summons and is due to appear in Tyrone District Court on May 23 for her preliminary hearing on the charges.

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