Passed Out Drunk Driver Had 5 Children In Car: Joliet Police

Joliet IL

30 August, 2021

12:40 PM

Description

JOLIET, IL — Joliet police say a 28-year-old Bolingbrook woman was booked into the Will County Jail early Saturday morning after police say she was intoxicated and had passed out behind the wheel of her car as her five young children all slept in the backseat. Police say the children were placed into the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Ebone Thorpe was booked into the Will County Jail around 3:30 a.m. on two counts of aggravated DUI, one count of DUI and five counts of endangering the life of a child. A Will County judge has set Thorpe's bail at $75,000, and she remained in custody on Monday. According to Joliet police, patrol officers were called to the Pizza for U parking lot in the 100 block of South Larkin Avenue around 12:25 a.m. Saturday "for a report of a female that appeared to be passed out in her vehicle." Police said that Thorpe was found in the driver's seat of her car and she appeared to be sleeping. Officers also observed five children between the ages of 3 and 9 years asleep in the back of the vehicle, police indicated. "Officers summoned a Joliet Fire Department ambulance and were able to successfully wake up Thorpe, who exhibited extreme behaviors of alcohol impairment. Thorpe was transported to AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center and Officers took protective custody of the children and transported them to the Joliet Police Department," police reports reflect. After being examined at the hospital, Joliet police took her into custody and brought her to the Will County Jail. Thorpe's children remain in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, police said.