Cops: Drunk Mom Drove With Girl Clinging to Car

A mom in Minnesota was so determined to get more booze one night last week that she drove to the store despite the fact that she was far too drunk to drive and her 8-year-old daughter was clinging to the vehicle, police say. According to a police report, 46-year-old Rena Giancherio was seen driving away from her home with the girl hanging onto the outside of her pickup, banging on the window, the Star Tribune reports. A neighbor called police after the girl fell off the vehicle, and by the time they arrived, Giancherio was back from the store and had a blood-alcohol level of .30, more than four times the state's legal limit.

A teenage neighbor who witnessed the incident tells KARE 11 that the girl appeared to be trying to stop her mother from driving away. "I went over to check on her and her knees are all cut up, she's on the curb just crying, and the mom is already gone, just drove off, she didn't stop or look down," he says. Police say Giancherio was obviously drunk but claimed she hadn't been drinking and told them her daughter was a liar, the New York Daily News reports. Surveillance video shows her buying a large bottle from a liquor store within minutes of the incident, and she has been charged with criminal vehicular operation, child endangerment, and drunken driving, reports the Star Tribune. (More drunk driving stories.)