Inset: Ivana Dolores Salazar (El Paso County Jail). Background: The area where she was pulled over Sunday evening (Google Maps).
A 27-year-old mother in Texas is accused of driving drunk, telling authorities that she was on her way to pick up her 5-month-old baby, only to be told by police that the infant was already in the back seat of her vehicle — seated in an improperly secured car seat.
Ivana Dolores Salazar was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count of driving while intoxicated with a passenger under the age of 15 and one count of endangering a child, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 1:28 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, 2025, conducted a traffic stop on a black Mercedes in the 3900 block of Rich Beem Boulevard. Deputies said they pulled the car over because the driver, later identified as Salazar, failed to signal before changing lanes.
Speaking to deputies, Salazar allegedly said that she was on her way to pick up her newborn child after recently getting off work. However, during the conversation, one of the deputies spotted an unknown red liquid inside of a clear glass cup. This allegedly led them to develop reasonable suspicion that Salazar had been drinking while operating her vehicle.
Just before she was placed under arrest, deputies said Salazar unambiguously stated that she was the sole occupant in the vehicle.
Following the arrest, deputies said they conducted a search of Salazar’s vehicle and made a shocking discovery: her 5-month-old baby was already in the rear of the vehicle sitting a “car seat that was not properly secured.”
When questioned, Salazar “repeated that she had just left work and was on her way to pick up her baby,” the release states. That’s when the deputies brought Salazar back to her car and showed her that her child was already in the car.
After being shown her child, “Salazar became uncooperative and claimed she did not know the baby was in the car,” the release states
Paramedics with El Paso Fire Medical Services transported the baby to The Hospitals of Providence East Campus where a medical evaluation was conducted. Child Protective Services were called to the scene. They took custody of the baby and later released the child to a “responsible party,” authorities said.
Salazar was transported to the El Paso County Jail and held on bond of $23,000 but was released later in the day Sunday on her own recognizance, the El Paso Times reported.
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