Inset: Arissa Adams (Potter County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The 1900 block of Port Lane in Amarillo, Texas (Google Maps).
An 18-year-old Texas woman is facing charges after authorities say she drove under the influence, crashed into a light pole and a tree, and caused a wreck that killed one passenger and left another with a spinal fracture.
Potter County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Arissa Adams is charged with intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle and two counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle. She remains held at the Potter County Detention Center.
According to an arrest report obtained by regional ABC affiliate KVII, Adams was driving four people through Amarillo at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Investigators say she later told them the group had taken alcohol from a Toot’n Totum convenience store.
The vehicle was traveling near the 1900 block of Port Lane in Amarillo, located in the Texas Panhandle, when the crash occurred.
One passenger told investigators that the group had been drinking and was intoxicated. Authorities allege Adams lost control while making a turn, sending the vehicle off the road and into a light pole and a tree.
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The arrest report states that three of the four occupants, including Adams, were ejected. A 16-year-old passenger who had been sitting in the back seat died. Officials have not publicly identified the teenager.
The front-seat passenger reportedly broke an ankle, while another back-seat passenger who remained inside the vehicle suffered a broken spine, according to the local television station.
Amarillo police responded to the scene and said Adams appeared to be “highly intoxicated.” Officers reportedly observed glassy eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol.
Investigators also found what appeared to be several open alcohol containers inside the vehicle.
Authorities say Adams first claimed another person had been driving and fled after the collision. Police later determined that Adams was allegedly behind the wheel, leading to her arrest and the criminal charges.
The case involving an 18-year-old accused of driving drunk in an Amarillo crash that killed a 16-year-old passenger and seriously injured another was first reported by Law & Crime.
