Baby 4 times the legal limit
2006-12-05 12:24
Colorado Springs - A two-month-old girl was hospitalised in good condition on Monday with a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit for an adult driver, police said.
The infant was taken to Memorial Hospital early on Sunday with a blood-alcohol level of 0.364% and was being treated in the intensive-care unit.
"I'm told by the hospital that the child is in good condition," police lieutenant Rafael Cintron said.
He declined to release any further details and said he could not confirm the blood-alcohol level.
Hospital spokesperson Sharon Miracle said alcohol is "virtually a poison" at levels as high as those found in the infant.
"Any time you give alcohol to a child, and at that quantity, it is extremely dangerous," she said.
Child abuse
Authorities were still investigating how the girl ingested the alcohol. Cintron said the incident was being investigated as child abuse.
Authorities said they believe the mother's boyfriend dropped the woman and child at the hospital and left. They said the mother had given conflicting stories and the whereabouts of the boyfriend were unknown.
The El Paso county department of human services was given custody of the baby, Cintron said.
A driver is considered legally drunk in Colorado with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08%.
- AP