On December 31, 2022, at around 8:15 p.m., officers of the Joliet, Illinois Police Department approached a Mercury Milan that was sitting in the parking lot of a local Dollar General. The driver – later identified as 41-year-old Samantha Barnes – was slumped over in the front seat. The officer banged on the window but was unable to wake the driver. When backup arrived, an officer broke the window of the vehicle and they were able to wake Samantha. They got her out of the car and escorted her to a nearby ambulance to be medically assessed. Inside the ambulance, she denied being intoxicated and told the officers that she was simply tired. She claimed she was driving around with her fussy infant son to get him to go to sleep – however, there was no child in the car with her. When this was pointed out, she then changed her story, claiming again that the baby was home with her husband and that she was just extremely tired and dazed. She also informed the officers that she takes a prescription for Klonopin for anxiety.

After she was cleared by EMTs, officers searched her vehicle and found a ziplock bag of Xanax pills, which Samantha claimed were also for her anxiety but were over a year old. An officer proceeded to take her through the field sobriety tests. Samantha failed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-leg stand test. She continued to insist that she didn’t drink as she was handcuffed and placed into a patrol car. Samantha was charged with aggravated driving under the influence on a suspended or revoked license and DUI. She was released from the Will County jail about 13 hours later.

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