By Joe Johnson
An Oconee County woman this week reportedly threw a dog from a moving vehicle while driving drunk on the Athens Perimeter.
Athens-Clarke County police said they received a 911 call at about 2 p.m. Tuesday from someone requesting that a welfare check be made of women in a van on the side of the Athens Perimeter near Olympic Drive. Both of the van's doors were said to be open and its hood was up.
A responding officer found only one woman in the van, identified by police as 48-year-old Christi Leah Anthony of Watkinsville, who was slumped over thew steering wheel and appeared to be confused and disoriented upon being roused, police said.
The woman told the officer that an empty bottle of tequila that was on the passenger seat belonged to her friend, who had been in the van only moments earlier, according to police.
Anthony reportedly admitted to being intoxicated and was taken into custody for a breathalyzer test at the downtown police precinct, where it was determined that the woman’s blood alcohol content was .235 percent, or nearly three times the amount legally allowed for driving, according to police.
While the first responding officer remained with the van until a wrecker arrived to tow it from the highway, a witness called police to say that he had seen Anthony recklessly driving the van, and when the vehicle was alongside his, he saw Anthony throw a small dog out of the passenger window, and after rolling on the roadway, the dog limped away to the shoulder.
Police said the dog was described as a black Boston terrier with a white belly and a white strip of fur on its face.
Police said they contacted the county’s Animal Services Department after they unsuccessfully searched for the dog.
A breathalyzer test indicated that Anthony had a bloodalcohol concentration of .235 precent, or early three times the amount that is legally allowed for driving, police said
Anthony was charged with DUI and two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
As of Friday afternoon, she continued to be held at the county jail in lieu of bonds totaling $3,950.