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A Largo woman is in jail and her child in protective custody after she allegedly drove drunk to register the 6-year-old for classes.
By CHRIS TISCH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 9, 2001
LARGO -- A woman faces a child abuse charge after she allegedly drove drunk to Oakhurst Elementary School to register her 6-year-old child, then drove through basketball courts and the playground -- with her child in the car -- to avoid another motorist trying to stop her.
Pinellas sheriff's deputies eventually stopped Stella Leftheris, 35, near Walsingham Road and 137th St. She was arrested and charged with child abuse and drunken driving. Her child was taken into custody by child protection investigators, said sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie. Leftheris is being held at the Pinellas County Jail, with her bail set at $20,250.
The incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when David Hastings, a Pinellas Park High School security officer who was bringing lunch to Oakhurst for his wife, said he saw Leftheris staggering like she was drunk, Dennie said.
Leftheris, 11460 Malaga Drive, Largo, apparently was bringing her child to the school to register for classes, which start in two weeks, said Kris Sulte, assistant principal at the school.
"We noticed she was impaired and called campus police," Sulte said.
Dennie said Hastings tried to detain Leftheris, but she got into her 1989 silver Ford Taurus and drove across grass, a basketball court and part of the playground as she sought to escape.
Leftheris then drove back to the front of the school, where she forced vehicles off the road as she drove away, Dennie said.
No one was injured. About a dozen adults, and no children, were in the area of the school when Leftheris drove off, Sulte said.
Leftheris was arrested on drunken driving charges in 1986 and in 1998, public records show. She also has been cited twice for speeding and once for failing to yield since 1991.
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.