Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a repeat impaired driver after she crashed a vehicle at a north-city bakery and fled the scene last night.

The Police Department reports officers were dispatched to the hit-and-run motor vehicle accident at Babe's Bakery on NE 6th Street on Monday at 6:13 p.m..

Police said an investigation determined that 26-year-old Samantha Lee Smith crashed her Toyota Tacoma onto the bakery property, damaging a fence and a flowerbed. Officers later located the suspect vehicle which had its license plates removed since the crash and was parked among other vehicles at a retirement center in the 1,000-block of NE 10th Street. Witnesses described the driver.

Smith returned with her boyfriend a short time later and tried to leave the center, but she was detained and placed into custody. She showed signs of impairment, but refused to cooperate with the investigation -- so a search warrant was obtained for a legal blood draw performed at Three Rivers Medical Center.

Based on the results of the blood draw, Smith was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Hit-and-Run Causing Property Damage and Tampering with Evidence. She was also cited for No Operator's License and Failure to Install an Ignition Interlock Device on her vehicle. She lost her license and was ordered to install the device due to previous DUII convictions.