Woman Sentenced for Felony Child Endangerment and Driving Under the Influence

Defendant Alexandra Darla Hutcheson, 31 years old of Cloverdale, was sentenced today by the Honorable Robert M. LaForge to five years of formal probation and 364 days in the county jail after pleading no contest in April to driving under the influence and child endangerment. She was further ordered to participate in and successfully complete a residential program of alcohol and drug rehabilitation and a 52 week parenting class. Hutcheson pled no contest to two counts of felony child endangerment, driving with a 0.08% blood alcohol content while having one prior DUI offense within ten years, and resisting a police officer. She further admitted to enhancements for refusing a chemical test and having a blood alcohol concentration in excess of 0.20%.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “The defendant’s actions in this case were really outrageous. In our judgment a prison sentence was warranted. Nevertheless, the court disagreed and granted the defendant an opportunity on probation.” 

The charges resulted from an incident in November of last year in which Hutcheson was driving an Acura MDX SUV with two minor children, ages 2 and 7, in the car. Hutcheson was traveling northbound on US-101 just south of Old Redwood Highway when she lost control of her vehicle. Witnesses observed that the vehicle veered off the roadway, traveled down a dirt embankment, and crossed the sidewalk before striking two other vehicles stopped at a red light. Hutcheson displayed signs of impairment and eventually was determined to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.271%.

The case was prosecuted by DDA David Kim of the District Attorney’s Vertical DUI Unit. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The California Highway Patrol headed the investigation.