Drunken Babysitter Drives Kids to School with a 0.46 Blood Alcohol Level

Sherry Ambolino, 41, of Richland Penn., was summoned to a local elementary school on Friday morning to pick up her sickly son from the infirmary. The time was 9.40 am, and her blood alcohol level at that time was 0.46 – just under 6 times the legal limit.

Ambolino was noticed as intoxicated at the school, and police were called to intervene. Waiting in her minivan were 4 additional children, aged 7 months to 4 years – children under her care from an informal home daycare set-up. Ambolino was arrested while still on school grounds.

The drunken babysitter has been charged with endangering the welfare of children and DUI and she will sit before a judge in early July. The defense attorney, Dale A. Reichley, has said that he does not expect adversarial proceedings and speculated about a guilty plea and a plea bargain.

Montgomery County Pathologist, Walter I. Hoffman, explained that such an extremely high blood alcohol content could be fatal, saying, "I’ve seen people die at as low as 0.2."

Reichley reported that personal problems in the months prior to the incident led to her heavy drinking, and reported that she was now participating in an intensive outpatient alcohol treatment program.

Ambolino had no license to operate a daycare facility.