Police found a woman passed out in her car with its engine running.
Fawn D. Giesen, 31, New London, was charged Nov. 28 with a fourth drunken driving offense.
The case stems from her arrest shortly after 10 p.m. on May 18 when New London Police Officer Luke Curtis was dispatched to the South Pearl Street parking lot in response to a report of a woman unconscious in a running car.
According to the criminal complaint, Curtis attempted to waken the woman by knocking on the window. He then opened the car door to ask her questions, but she seemed confused.
The woman, identified as Giesen, had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, the complaint says.
While Curtis was trying to question Giesen, she apparently closed the car door on him.
Curtis conducted field sobriety tests and concluded he had probable cause for a drunken driving offense.
A subsequent blood sample indicated Giesen had a .21 blood-alcohol level.
On June 15, after receiving the blood test results, Giesen was charged with a third drunken driving offense. She was released from custody on a $3,500 signature bond with the condition that she comply with the jail’s alcohol monitoring program.
However, Giesen had already been charged with, but not convicted of, a third OWI offense on March 9.
Giesen first appeared in court for the March 9 case on April 6 and she was released from custody after posting a $2,000 cash bond.
Six weeks later, she was arrested again.
On Nov. 26, Giesen was convicted of a third offense of operating with a prohibited alcohol content for the March 9 case.
Judge Vicki Clussman sentenced Giesen to 80 days in jail, then stayed 60 days under the Safe Streets Treatment Options Program. Clussman also ordered Giesen to pay $2,038 in fines and court costs and applied the $2,000 cash bond to the amount.
Giesen’s license was revoked for 27 months and she was ordered to install an ignition interlock device on her car.
On Nov. 28, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the June 15 misdemeanor charge and refiled the case as a felony since it would now be a fourth offense.