by: Melissa Marino Posted: Sep 20, 2018 / 01:51 PM EDT Updated: Sep 20, 2018 / 06:38 PM EDT SHARE A Polk County woman is charged with driving under the influence after deputies say she drove drunk into a retention pond with an 8-year-old girl in the car. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the girl was able to escape from the flooding vehicle and ran to a nearby house for help.“A little girl just came banging on my front door saying their car is stuck in the lake. Her car is literally in the pond right next to my house,” the neighbor told a 911 dispatcher.The neighbor can then be heard pleading with the girl not to go back in the water after the woman. Deputies found the partially submerged Ford Explorer Wednesday night in a retention pond, off Sundance Place Loop in Mulberry.When deputies arrived they said 33-year-old Michelle Snover was so intoxicated two paramedics had to help her stand, according to a police report.A deputy said Snover smelled like alcohol and failed field sobriety tests. According to charging documents, her blood alcohol level was .138.“She said, ‘I parked my car and Uber is supposed to get me.’ The deputy says ,’you parked your car in that retention pond?’ And she’d say ‘yes’,” Sheriff Grady Judd told News Channel 8.Snover told the arresting deputy she worked in an emergency room. The sheriff’s office said she works as a registered nurse in the emergency room at Lakeland Regional Health.A hospital spokesperson released the following statement: “We do not comment on personnel matters. Lakeland Regional Health’s policy requires a registered nurse to report such an incident to the Board of Nursing, comply with Board review, and be fit for duty.”Snover was charged with child endangerment and cited for DUI.According to the sheriffs office, she was arrested for driving under the influence in 2016.“The good news is she’s okay. The good news is the 8-year-old didn’t drown. This could have been a tragedy of monumental proportion instead of a tough wakeup call,” Sheriff Judd said.
