Woman sentenced to five months in jail for vehicular assault-DUI

A Vancouver woman who was driving under the influence when she crashed head-on into another vehicle on Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard in November was sentenced Tuesday to five months in jail, court records show.

Susan L. Johnson, 51, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to vehicular assault-DUI in connection with the Nov. 13 collision. She may be able to serve her sentence through the jail’s work-release program, which allows inmates to work outside in the community and be confined when they’re not working.

Police responded shortly after 6:30 p.m. to Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast 131st Avenue and saw fire personnel working to extricate the driver from a 1999 Buick Park Avenue, according to a probable cause affidavit. That driver, identified in court records as David McMullin, suffered a broken left femur.

Two witnesses told police the crash was caused by Johnson, who was driving a Nissan Altima, the affidavit states.

Police said Johnson smelled strongly of alcohol and had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes, according to court documents. Johnson was adamant that McMullin’s vehicle struck hers. However, she admitted to drinking beer several hours before the crash and failed a field sobriety test, court records said.

A preliminary breath test estimated she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.243 percent more than an hour after the crash, the affidavit shows, three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Court records show that Johnson has a history of DUI and negligent driving spanning from 1990 to 2004.

In addition to her jail sentence, Johnson will also serve 12 months of community custody. She is not to have contact with McMullin and must install an ignition interlock device on all vehicles she drives for a year, court records state.