Dawsonville woman charged with DUI after crashing into mailbox; 2 kids inside

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta police have charged a Dawsonville woman with DUI and child endangerment after they said she crashed her SUV Saturday night with her two kids in the back seat.

Police told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik that Kelin Winters, 32, admitted to taking four prescription medications before getting behind the wheel. An arrest report said officers also found 11 loose pills in her truck. Police said nobody was seriously injured in the wreck.

Ed Hohenberger told Petchenik he was inside his Providence Road home when his daughter heard the impact of Winters' SUV crashing into his brick mailbox.

"She heard something hitting the mailbox and thought that was the pole," he said. "This lady had wiped out my mailbox and it was strewn all across my lawn out there."

Hohenberger said he hopes Winters can get some help and pay to fix his damaged mailbox.

"It's a just a bad situation for her that she's got to overcome, maybe with some jail time, maybe with some fines," he said. "I hope she learns something and doesn't do the same thing over again."

Alpharetta Department of Public Safety spokesman George Gordon said Winters submitted to a blood test, which will determine what drugs she was on at the time of the crash.

"It's not unlawful to take your prescribed medication, but you really can't mix medications unless you know it's safe to do so, and you shouldn't take your medications if there's a chance it'll affect your ability to drive or operate a vehicle," Gordon said. "We're grateful she didn't drift off to the left into an oncoming car. This could have been a lot worse."

Winters was released on a copy of the charges and has a court date in February. Petchenik attempted to reach Winters at several numbers, but nobody answered. He also left a message via social media, but as of Tuesday afternoon, had not heard back.

WSBTV