CHICORA — Citing public safety, a district judge Tuesday revoked the bond of a woman being held in jail for allegedly driving under the influence for a fourth time.

Melissa McKinney, 58, of Harrisville was charged Dec. 11 with driving under the influence of a controlled substance after she allegedly crashed her car into a utility pole on Route 8. With this being her fourth offense, her charge was a felony.

At the time, she told police that the sun was in her eyes, and during her preliminary hearing Tuesday public defender Maura Palumbi cited this as a reason for the crash and asked Judge Lewis Stoughton to drop the charge.

McKinney drove through a traffic light, “swerved past four to five cars” into oncoming traffic, a criminal complaint states, before swerving back to her right and into a pole.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that will appear in Thursday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article and find out why the judge revoked her bond.