Inset: Megan Lee Champion (Palm Beach County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The intersection where Champion allegedly collided with a school bus (Google Maps).
A Florida woman has been arrested after allegedly crashing into a school bus with her 11-year-old daughter in the front passenger seat of her car,.
Megan Lee Champion, 38, is facing charges of DUI causing property damage, DUI while having a person under 18 in the vehicle, and refusing to accept or sign a citation, according to records from Palm Beach County court and jail.
The event took place on Sept. 5 at the intersection of Citrus Park Boulevard and Lawrence Road in Boynton Beach, a mid-sized city approximately 15 miles south of West Palm Beach.
Officers from the Boynton Beach Police Department responded shortly after 5 p.m. following a 911 report of a traffic collision where “the driver of the Lexus appeared intoxicated,” as detailed in an affidavit of probable cause acquired by Law&Crime.
An officer noted seeing a “Palm Beach County yellow school bus with damage to the left rear side.” The adjacent Lexus showed front bumper damage with both airbags deployed, according to the affidavit.
At the scene, Champion and her daughter were both still in the car, police said.
“I approached Champion to check if she was alright,” an officer wrote in the charging document. “I noticed Champion appeared drowsy, lethargic, with glassy eyes; her pupils were extremely constricted, and she looked as though she might fall asleep.”
A witness told law enforcement that she was traveling behind the Lexus at the time of the crash – and for some time prior – while going north on Lawrence, according to police. The witness said she observed the Lexus driving slowly and repeatedly swerving between two lanes for a while. Then, the white Lexus stopped at the intersection in question, “made a sharp left turn,” and collided with the school bus, which was heading south, the witness said.
A second witness — who was two cars back and also heading north — provided a substantially similar story about the slow, swerving Lexus and the left turn into the yellow school bus, police said.
The bus, as it turns out, had only the driver aboard and did not have any passengers at the time, police made sure to note.
Then, investigators turned to Champion herself.
“I approached Champion again and asked her what happened,” the officer went on. “Champion was unable to provide a clear explanation related to the crash.”
As the defendant left her vehicle, she allegedly “stumbled,” was “unable to maintain her balance,” and began “swaying back and forth,” police say.
But the allegedly telltale indicators did not end there.
“I asked Champion what she had to drink and she had slurred speech and denied having anything to drink,” the affidavit continues. “I smelled an unknown odor of alcohol coming [from] her mouth. Champion seemed disoriented and could not inform me of her home address when I asked her. She stated she takes medication for blood pressure. Champion was agitated, emotional and would not comply or answer the questions that were asked of her.”
After being asked to perform field sobriety tests, Champion allegedly agreed at first before apparently changing her mind, police say.
After one attempt, the defendant allegedly “continued to be agitated, almost ran into traffic and refused to follow direction she was given.” So, police determined she would be partaking in field sobriety tests and decided to arrest her. Then, the defendant allegedly tried “to bite” an officer as she was being placed in the back of a patrol car.
Later, at a local DUI testing facility, Champion declined to submit to either breathalyzer or urinalysis tests to determine her blood alcohol level, according to the charging document.
The defendant was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail and made bond the next day. She is slated to appear in court on Sept. 22.
