Man driving with 3 young passengers booked on 4th DUI
A man previously sentenced in three DUI cases was arrested Sunday on suspicion of impaired driving with three children in the back seat.
Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested Michael Williams, 34, near West Lake Mead Boulevard and Fairhaven Street, according to an arrest report from the department. Detectives said he was driving a silver Mercury 80 mph in the 25 mph area around 7 p.m. Sunday.
An officer wrote that he immediately noticed bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol when Williams slurred his words. An open can of beer sat between Williams and the woman in the front seat, according to the arrest report. Two 8-year-olds and an 11-year-old sat in the back seat.
Williams told police he was drinking from noon until about 5:30 p.m. at a family barbecue, and that he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.
Las Vegas Justice Court records show that Williams was booked on DUI charges in June 2017 and March 2018. Both cases were settled on April 1, 2019, when he pleaded no contest to DUI first offense. He was sentenced to DUI school and community service. A six-month jail sentence was to be suspended in both cases if he completed the classes and community service.
Two months later, Williams was arrested on a DUI charge again.
Clark County District Court records show that he pleaded guilty to a second-offense DUI charge and was sentenced to five years of probation. The case was closed, and he was taken off probation in December after completing the DUI program offered by the court.
“Any additional DUI’s will be considered a felony punishable by mandatory imprisonment of two years and a maximum of 15 years, and he will not be allowed to re-enter the Felony DUI program,” the court noted when closing the case in December.
Now, Williams faces one count of DUI third offense and three counts of child abuse. He has not been formally charged, according to court records, and he posted bail this week.
He is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 26.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
