MARBLEHEAD — A 63-year-old grandmother was arrested yesterday morning on a third-offense drunken driving charge, after police said she crashed her car into a tree while taking her grandson to school.
Although Sharon A. Faulkner of Marblehead was arrested at her grandson's school, police said the crash occurred more than a mile away. Police said she and her grandson had gotten out of the crashed car, then hitched another ride to Glover School.
Faulkner, of 8 Leggs Hills Road, was arrested at the school on Maple Street and her 9-year-old grandson was taken to North Shore Children's Hospital as a precaution, following complaints of chest pain and a lump on his head, police Lt. Matt Freeman said.
Both air bags in Faulkner's 2001 gray Toyota Camry SE deployed after the sedan crashed into a tree at 131 Atlantic Ave., near the Ocean Avenue intersection. The crash damaged the tree as well as the car.
Police received a report of the crash at 8:34 a.m.
First-responding officers found the car unoccupied and a neighbor said a woman was walking away, Freeman said.
Police dispatchers soon learned Faulkner was at Glover School and police were on scene there at 8:48 a.m. The Toyota is registered to Faulkner.
The crash scene is 1.3 miles away from the school, and Freeman doubts Faulkner and her grandson were able to walk that distance in 14 minutes.
"She must have gotten a ride: That's quite a distance to walk," Freeman said.
Freeman suspects the pair were picked up by a passing motorist, or the two might have boarded the MBTA bus, since a bus stop is near the Glover School.
Along with the drunken driving charge, police also charged Faulkner with negligent driving, leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, and reckless child endangerment.
Freeman said Faulkner was arraigned yesterday at Lynn District Court. He did not know the outcome of the proceeding.
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