Intoxicated Woman Tried to Run Down Pedestrians With Child in Backseat: Utica Police Say

A Utica woman is accused of trying to run down pedestrians with her vehicle, ultimately striking and damaging several other vehicles and Utica police say all this happened as the woman was driving under the influence and with a young child in the backseat.

Investigators with Utica Police say they witnessed the wild scene on Oneida Street at around 8:30 on Wednesday night. Police say 30-year-old Dezzarae Gaines drove her vehicle directly at several pedestrians but wound up hitting several parked vehicles and then a tree.

After the vehicle finally came to rest, police say another woman ran up to the driver side and began to physically fight with the driver.

As officers were trying to sort out the chaos, they say they could smell alcohol on Gaines' breath and noticed a three-year-old child in the backseat of her car. The child was uninjured and turned over to a relative who arrived on scene.

Gaines is facing nearly a dozen charges including attempted assault, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, DWI, aggravated DWI and multiple vehicle and traffic law citations.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE:   This post is for informational purposes and is based largely on information received from Utica Police.  The reader is reminded that all suspects and arrested persons are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.  At the time of this posting no additional information is available.]