Staff Reports
A 41-year-old Gardnerville woman, intoxicated and topless, was hospitalized Monday after she reportedly stole a bottle of wine from a Gardnerville grocery store and nearly drove into a fast food restaurant in the midst of a raging snow squall.
According to witnesses, a woman identified as Brandi Smith, was driving erratically before pulling into the parking lot at Scolari's grocery store.
Smith, naked from the waist up, entered Scolari's and left without paying for a $20 bottle of wine. The store provided video footage of Smith.
One of the clerks said he confronted her about her lack of clothing and said, "She just walked right past me," without acknowledging him and left the store.
She got into her car and drove toward Burger King. She stopped near the entrance to the drive-through with the right front tire over the curb and in the landscape.
She was met by an off-duty sheriff's deputy who removed the keys from the ignition, recovered the wine, and held the driver's door closed to keep her in the vehicle.
The deputy said he was shopping in Scolari's and watched Smith get in the Corvette and drive away. He said she appeared extremely intoxicated.
When deputies arrived, Smith was in the front seat loosely covered with a sweatshirt which she kept removing.
The deputy said he was unable to administer sobriety tests because of the weather, Smith's incoherent condition and the fact that she was half-dressed.
Paramedics took her to Carson Valley Medical Center for treatment. A preliminary breath test at the center indicated a breath-alcohol content of .144, nearly twice the legal limit.
The sheriff's office originally was contacted by a motorist who reported the driver of a black Corvette driving erratically from Tillman and Dresslerville in the Gardnerville Ranchos, down Centerville, nearly hitting the abutment at Lutheran bridge. He followed the car to the shopping center and watched Smith exit the vehicle and enter the store.
A search of her records indicated two prior convictions of driving under the influence in California in 2008 and 2009. Her California driver's license is suspended and there is no record of a Nevada license.
She also is on probation in Douglas County for an October theft of beer from the Tillman Lane 7-Eleven.
She remained hospitalized for observation, according to reports.
