Drunk Driver Accused Of Hitting Young Girl

12-year-old Jordan Babcock and her mother were walking along the side of a rural road near their home in Grand Traverse County in August, against the traffic as is recommended for safety, when a vehicle struck the child and slammed her to the ground, rupturing internal organs and fracturing her pelvis.

Her mother immediately rushed to her side in an attempt to help her, only to be struck by a second vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. Police later determined that the driver of the second vehicle was not intoxicated at the time of the accident, and was not at fault for the collision.

But Jason Scott Lemieux, the driver of the car that hit Jordan, is in an entirely different situation. Charged with two counts of operating while intoxicated causing injury, Lemieux is now headed for trial after a recent hearing in the 86th District Court.

While Lemieux did not strike the mother with his vehicle, it was his actions that set in motion a sequence of events that resulted in her being struck by the other car moments later. Case law in Michigan allows for a person who is charged with drunk driving to be punished for the injuries caused by their actions, even if the injuries weren’t caused directly. So for this reason Lemieux is facing two counts of operating while intoxicated causing injury.

According to the Michigan State Police trooper who tested Lemieux at the scene of the accident, he smelled of intoxicants and performed badly when subjected to field sobriety tests. Additionally, when a Breathalyzer test was administered, Lemieux’s BAC was recorded at 0.151, which is considerably higher than the state’s legal limit of 0.08.

In addition, according to County Prosecutor Bob Cooney, the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office also intends to bring further charges against him for the fact that he had an 8-year-old child in the car with him at the time of the accident.