A disturbance call at a Nebraska Dollar General turned into a police pursuit involving an impaired driver and four children, including an infant, according to authorities. Alliance police say 24-year-old Lylian Rose Star fled from officers before eventually pulling into a driveway and being taken into custody.
Officers initially responded to the Dollar General at 1229 West 3rd Street around 6:30 p.m. on September 9 for a reported disturbance. While police were investigating, the suspect vehicle returned to the area, but authorities say its driver ignored emergency lights and verbal commands and fled.
Officers later located the vehicle traveling eastbound on West 3rd Street and attempted to stop it again. Police say the driver again failed to stop, beginning a pursuit that briefly reached approximately 55 mph before the vehicle pulled into a driveway in the 600 block of Sweetwater Avenue.
Officers conducted a felony traffic stop and identified Star as the driver before discovering four children inside the vehicle. The children were ages 9, 9, 8, and less than one year old, adding a considerably more troubling dimension to a pursuit that police say fortunately ended without anyone being injured.
Police Say Driver Had a .176 Bac With 4 Children Inside
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Officers said Star displayed signs of impairment following the pursuit and conducted a DUI investigation. According to police, a chemical test produced a blood alcohol concentration of .176, more than twice Nebraska’s legal limit.
Police also said Star admitted to using methamphetamine earlier that day. Authorities did not provide additional details about that admission or indicate in their announcement whether any suspected methamphetamine was recovered from the vehicle.
Star is accused of resisting officers as they attempted to place her inside a patrol vehicle following her arrest. Police subsequently had the vehicle towed and placed in the Alliance Police Department’s impound lot.
We searched for her records in the records available at the Stark County Jail, but no additional information was found.
Pursuit Leaves Star Facing Multiple Felony Charges
Star was booked on suspicion of four counts of felony intentional child abuse with no injury and four counts of transporting a child while intoxicated. She also faces felony operation of a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, DUI with a BAC of .15 or greater with one prior conviction, resisting arrest, driving while revoked, willful reckless driving, and unlawful acts relating to drugs.
Alliance Police Chief David Leavitt said fleeing officers while impaired and carrying four children created an “unacceptable risk” to the children, police, and everyone else on the road. He also emphasized that the situation could have ended much differently given the circumstances surrounding the pursuit.
Despite the vehicle briefly reaching approximately 55 mph and police ultimately conducting a felony traffic stop, authorities said nobody was injured. The charges against Star remain accusations, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.