A Long Island mother has pleaded not guilty after she was indicted for allegedly driving drunk while her three children were in the car with her, prosecutors say.
Benigna Pinedamata, 29, was on probation for a 2013 drunk driving conviction when she was arrested earlier this month on a second DWI, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say a security guard stopped Pinedamata on March 12 in from of a North Amityville elementary school after watching her drive up onto a sidewalk and narrowly miss a school bus as she was picking up her 5-year-old son from kindergarten.
The guard allegedly smelled alcohol on her breath and called police.
When questioned, Pinedamata allegedly told police she had a shot and a beer before she picked up her son, prosecutors said. Her blood alcohol level was .17 percent, more than twice the legal limit, according to the DA’s office.
Pinedamata is charged with driving drunk with a minor in the car, driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a child, circumvention of an interlock device and driving without a valid license. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney. She is being held on $30,000 cash bail or $90,000 bond.
