An Alva woman is facing numerous charges after a citizen reported a woman suspected of being intoxicated while driving with a child in the vehicle. The call came in at 2:46 p.m. Thursday, April 11.

Woods County Undersheriff Keith Dale heard the radio call from dispatch and began looking for the black Dodge pickup driven by Bridget Bebee last reported driving north on College Avenue. Dale knew from previous contact that Bebee lived in the 900 block of Barnes.

About 3 p.m. Dale saw a vehicle matching the description that was traveling north in the 500 block of 9th Street. When he met the vehicle, he observed a small male child, later found to be four years old, in the passenger seat.

Dale initiated his emergency lights to make a traffic stop. The vehicle continued west, turning into the driveway of Bebee’s residence. As he walked to the vehicle, Dale saw Bebee open the door and get out of the pickup. He saw the boy crawling across the front seat to get out. When Dale looked inside, he did not see a car seat or any type of child restraint system, according to the affidavit.

Dale explained the reason for the traffic stop. Bebee denied drinking any alcoholic beverages and said she did not possess a valid driver’s license. Dale states he could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath as she spoke and noticed she was unsteady on her feet. Dale asked her to accompany him to his vehicle, but she could not because the boy wouldn’t let go of her and she didn’t have anyone else to call.

When Alva Police Officers Blake Trekell and Sean Farris arrivee, Farris escorted Bebee and the boy into the residence where she told the boy to stay inside. When she returned, Dale attempted to conduct field sobriety testing, but the boy ran outside and began to cling to Bebee, making it impossible to complete the tests.

Bebee said she did not have anyone else at the residence to care for the boy or her daughter, age 8, who arrived at the residence after the traffic stop. Dale contacted the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and requested they come to the residence to take the children.

Dale asked to search Bebee’s vehicle, and she consented, according to the affidavit. A search revealed a 32 ounce cup with approximately three ounces of a brown liquid in the bottom which smelled like an alcoholic beverage to Dale.

After DHS arrived to take emergency custody of the children, Dale placed Bebee under arrest. She was handcuffed out of the view of her children and taken to the Woods County Jail.

Dale conducted a limited records check on Bebee which revealed an extensive criminal history throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.

Bridget Renea Bebee, 33, of Alva, has been charged with child endangerment by driving under the influence, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment for up to four years and/or a fine of $5,000.

She has also been charged with four misdemeanors: (1) driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, (2) driving without a valid driver’s license, (3) transporting an open container of alcoholic beverage and (4) failure to use child restraint system.