Impaired driver charged after smashing Into Piggly Wiggly with kids in the SUV
A woman who crashed into the front of a Piggly Wiggly was stopped by Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers and taken into custody late Thursday afternoon.
Stephanie Marie Morales, 39, of Kinston, drove into the front entrance of the grocery store at 2240 U.S. 258 around 4:45 p.m., destroying the doors in the process. The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office was called to assist the Kinston Police Department in pursuit of the driver who fled the scene.
The driver of the vehicle, a small black SUV, attempted to elude Sheriff Rogers, but he pulled her over at the Auto Zone on U.S. 70 near Walmart. There was a 10-month-old child in the front seat of the vehicle that was unrestrained.
A 7-year-old female received minor injuries at the grocery store.
Morales received the following charges from the LCSO and KPD:
· Driving while impaired
· Injury to real property
· Misdemeanor child abuse
· Reckless Driving
· Hit and run property, damage and injury
· Fail to decrease speed to avoid accident
· Driving while license revoked
· No liability insurance
· Expired registration
· Inspection violation
· Child not in rear seat
Morales did not receive a bond.
Photos below credited to: Jaime McCuthcheon Minges
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