Hollister police arrested a retired school teacher for driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .31 – four times the legal limit – across from Sunnyslope School on Thursday.
Hollister resident Kathleen Alice Bushman, 50, was arrested at 4:24 p.m. when she hit an unoccupied parked car when she was leaving a doctor’s appointment in the medical complex at 930 Memorial Dr., said Sgt. Dan Winn.
At the time of her arrest officers smelled an odor of alcohol and Bushman was not steady on her feet, Winn said.
Which doctor’s office Bushman visited is undetermined, Winn said.
When Bushman left her doctor’s appointment, which was scheduled for 3 p.m., she then got into her 1998 Toyota truck and began backing out of her parking space, Winn said.
Bushman was taking an unusually long time in backing out of the parking space, which grabbed the attention of a witness, Winn said.
After backing out part way, Bushman put the truck in drive and hit the 1999 Chevy Tahoe parked in the space next to her, which promoted the witness to call the police, Winn said.
The collision caused minor damage to the rear driver’s side of the Tahoe and sent Bushman to the San Benito County Jail, where she was released several hours later.
It was Bushman’s first arrest, according to the jail.
The medical complex is located directly across the street from Sunnyslope School.
While Sunnyslope elementary students had been released from school several hours before Bushman was arrested, a person driving under the influence in the vicinity of young children is disconcerting, said Principal Melinda Scott.
“That is a concern, especially if it had been earlier in the day – maybe right around dismissal time,” Scott said. “We do everything we can to supervise and make sure the children are safe, but we don’t have any control over what else goes on,” Scott said.
Why medical personnel didn’t realize or act on Bushman’s heavy intoxication level is another matter, Scott said.
“I would think even taking her vitals with that much alcohol her heart would be beating faster or slower,” she said. “I would be interested in the details as to why they didn’t notice it.”
