A St. Petersburg woman was charged with DUI and child neglect early Monday after police said she left her 8-year-old son in her Mercedes for four hours while she drank at a downtown bar.
Officers responded to the Tryst Lounge at 240 Beach Drive NE around 3 a.m. to investigate a disturbance. They found a crowd of people standing outside and pointing to a woman in a 2010 silver Mercedes in front of the lounge.
Witnesses told police the woman, later identified as 36-year-old Krastina Yankova Gesheva, had struck two parked cars while backing out and she was trying to leave the area.
Officers approached the car and saw Geshava's 8-year-old son in the car with her. Neither was injured, but when asked to get out of the car, Gesheva showed signs of intoxication, according to police.
Witnesses told police Gesheva had left the boy sitting alone in the car while she drank and that he periodically came into the bar to look for her.
Gesheva was arrested and booked in the Pinellas County Jail. Her blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.177 percent, more than double the level at which Florida law presumes impairment, police said.
The child was released into the custody of a guardian.
Gesheva made her first appearance on Monday on child neglect and DUI involving property damage charges.
Gesheva said she couldn't understand the judge because she's from Bulgaria. Judge Dorothy Vaccaro called an interpreter to make sure Gesheva understood the charges she's facing.
The judge gave Gesheva a $2,750 bond and told her not to have contact with her son or drink alcohol.
Police say neither Gesheva nor her son was injured in the accident. A Tryst manager said no employees saw Gesheva's son or knew about the situation.