11-Year-Old Girl Leads Cops on DUI Car Chase

Assistant Police Chief Greg Duck said a patrol officer noticed the Monte Carlo speeding west along Alabama 182 near the Phoenix V Condominium tower Tuesday night at about 10:30. When the officer flicked on his lights and tried to pull the car over, it sped up.

According to Duck: The Monte Carlo exceeded speeds of 100 mph in the ensuing chase, which flew west along the beach highway through Orange Beach, past Gulf State Park and into Gulf Shores -- a distance of about 8 miles. The Monte Carlo eventually sideswiped another vehicle and then flipped over near the easternmost condo towers of Gulf Shores.

The patrol officer, unaware of who the Monte Carlo's driver might be, approached the wrecked car cautiously, with gun drawn, Duck said.

"You go up there thinking it's a felon you're dealing with," he said.

But what the officer found was hardly whom he expected. Rather, he discovered a typical-looking 11-year-old, a fifth- or sixth-grader, perhaps, apparently drunk and slightly injured.

"You can see his reaction on the video," Duck said of his patrol officer. "He was expecting someone else."

Police did not release the defendant's name because of her age, but she is from Perdido Key, Fla., an unincorporated part of the Panhandle that abuts Orange Beach. Duck said the case has been turned over to the Baldwin County Juvenile Court for prosecution.

While the legal blood-alcohol content for adults is .08 grams per 100 milliliters of blood, the limit for anyone under 21 is .02. Without disclosing her blood-alcohol content, Duck said the 11-year-old had enough alcohol in her system that she could have been charged with DUI even if she had been an adult.

Police say the car sideswiped another vehicle during the chase, which
reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Investigators say the
girl was taken to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. She was
treated for minor injuries and released.

The girl is from Perdido Key, Fla. and was vacationing in the area with family. Her name was not released because of her age.

Duck told NBC15 News that the girl told police she was on her way to pick up her sister at a concert in Orange Beach.