Allegedly Intoxicated Woman Charged in Late Night Stroll with Granddaughter

An allegedly intoxicated West Haven woman was arrested on the Fourth of July after she was allegedly found walking her one-year-old granddaughter down the middle of Benham Street and Vantage Road at about 10:15 p.m.

Hamden Police responded to the area after receiving a report of a disoriented woman with a child, according to police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith.

A witness told police that he saw the woman pushing an infant in a stroller in the middle of the street, and when he attempted to intervene, the woman "would not listen," Smith said.

Officers stopped the woman, identified as Audrey Smith, 48, of 1199 Campbell Ave., West Haven, who "appeared to be intoxicated," Smith said. The woman told officers that she was walking to West Haven with her one-year-old granddaughter, Smith said, but then "began screaming at the officers."

Under the stroller, officers found a half-empty bottle of vodka, Smith said.

After officers arrested Smith and put her in the rear of a police car, she then "began kicking the back seat and banging her head against the glass," Smith said. 

Audrey Smith was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital and her granddaughter was taken to the Yale-New Haven Hospital Pediatric Unit, Smith said. Police also contacted the Department of Children and Families, he said.

After Audrey Smith was released from the hospital, she was taken to Hamden Police Headquarters and charged with risk of injury to a minor and interfering with a police officer. 

She was held in lieu of $2,500.00 bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on July 19.

Off. Shawn Nutcher conducted the investigation, Capt. Smith said.