Woman Busted For Drinking, Driving, And Breastfeeding, Where Else But Florida

Usually when we here at Mommyish bring you news of a mother interrupted while breastfeeding, it’s with a sense of indignation. We’re going to have to ask you to muster up something a little more serious than indignation today, though — and not for the interrupters, but for the interruptee.

ClickOrlando reports the case of a Florida (of course it was Florida) woman, Cateria Thomas, who was stopped from breastfeeding last night by police — while a.) driving and b.) driving drunk. While breastfeeding is a lovely and natural way to feed your child, it is a very much less lovely and very much more troubling task to engage in when you are also operating a motor vehicle. If you also happen to be operating that motor vehicle while under the influence, then you are off the charts as far as ‘troubling’ decisions go. And if you have three other kids in the backseat, then I need to go lie down under my desk and think about kittens and trees for a few moments before I can get on with my day.

Thomas was pulled over by an officer who noticed that her vehicle’s tags had been altered and that one of her young children wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The officer was probably not expecting to find Thomas in the driver’s seat nursing a two-month-old behind the wheel, which is presumably not a legal rear-facing position for a child to be in, even in Florida. Thomas refused a Breathalyzer test, but apparently she “did advise she had four hamburgers with whiskey on them.” Florida, no. No, Florida. Please tell me this is not a thing.

Thomas’s four children are in state custody for the night while Florida’s Department of Children and Families does background checks to find a relative they can safely stay with, which is probably the best possible outcome for this awful story. In the meantime, Thomas is the county jail awaiting charges for DUI, driving without a license, unlawful alteration of her vehicle’s tags, and child endangerment — which presumably covers both driving drunk with children in the car as well as doing the equivalent of pouring a White Russian down a two-month old’s throat. Sometimes, breast really, really isn’t best.

(Image: ClickOrlando)