BENNINGTON -- An East Road woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Bennington Superior Court Criminal Division to charges that she impeded police investigating her for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Monica DeCell, 37, pleaded not guilty to a felony county of impeding a police officer, a misdemeanor charge of DUI, driving with a suspended license and giving false information to police. She was released on $500 bail and must obey a check in schedule at the Bennington Police Department.
According to an affidavit by Bennington Police Sgt. Camillo Grande, on Monday at 12:25 a.m. he went to Mincer’s Mini Mart on Main Street where it was reported a woman had collided with something while driving a van.
Grande said he found the van at the store and saw its front end and tire were damaged. The rear hatch and the side door were also open, he said. He found DeCell in the front passenger seat and said she appeared to be intoxicated.
According to Grande, she gave a breath test that showed her blood-alcohol content to be .239 percent. Grande said DeCell told him she didn’t know the van had been damaged and said she had pulled into the lot to sleep as she had been at a bar earlier. Grande said she refused to cooperate with another breath test at the police station and began striking the walls of an interview room. He said she threatened him when he and another officer sought to move her to a holding cell.
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