At about 8:55pm Monday, Turlock Police responded to a disturbance in progress at Applebee’s in the 2500 block of Fulkerth Road.

The caller reported that there was a drunk woman about to leave in her vehicle with a small child. She was also reportedly yelling at the employees, telling them she was going to have somebody come back and assault the manager.

Before officers were able to arrive on scene, the woman left.

Officer Schell located the vehicle driving eastbound on W. Main Street after getting off the freeway, followed it for a bit, and stopped it on South Avenue near S. Soderquist Road.

The vehicle turned out to have three occupants, driver Maria Moreno, 51, of Turlock, her 26-year-old daughter, and the daughter’s 3-year-old daughter.

While speaking with Moreno, officers noticed that she was displaying objective symptoms of being under the influence, just as the caller had reported.

Officers asked Moreno if she’d be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. She poorly participated in one and refused to participate in the other two.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, officers determined that Moreno was under the influence of alcohol and arrested her.

Moreno provided two breath samples at the scene as required by California’s implied consent law. They revealed that Moreno had a blood alcohol content greater than .08%.

It’s worth noting that Moreno had at least two prior DUI convictions.

Moreno was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or greater, child abuse or endangerment under circumstances other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death, and driving with a suspended license due to a DUI conviction.

She was also issued an additional driver’s license suspension order and her vehicle was impounded.