Upper Keys woman racks up 2nd DUI case in 2 months

A Tavernier woman is facing a second drunk-driving charge two months after police said she drunkenly drove through a neighborhood trying to hit pedestrians while shouting racial slurs.

Sonja Lopez, 57, was driving a gold sedan about 4:30 p.m. Nov. 21 on U.S. 1 at mile marker 98 when she ran a stop sign and struck a Jeep, according to the arrest report.

“She stated she was flying to Missouri to see a friend,” reads the report by the Florida Highway Patrol. “She stated she attempted to get a ride, however, she was not able to.”

Lopez, who bonded out of jail on her first DUI case Oct. 21, smelled strongly of alcohol and later scored a .11 blood-alcohol level on a breath test at the Plantation Key jail. In Florida, .08 percent is considered legally drunk.

Troopers said they found two half-empty bottles of booze inside her car — one vodka and the other one a coffee liqueur. Lopez was taken to the jail on Stock Island, where she bonded out two days later after posting $21,500. She is due in court before Judge William Ptomey on Dec. 7.

On Sept. 15, Lopez was arrested after police say she was racing through Hibiscus Park in Key Largo about 10 p.m. “trying to kill people with her vehicle,” according to a 911 caller.

The caller said the older beige sedan was “going over 100 miles per hour.”

A 39-year-old woman and her 19-year-old son said they were walking down the side of a road when Lopez went by yelling and screaming and repeatedly using racial slurs, reports state. The mother said Lopez twice tried to hit her and her son and they had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck.

Lopez is facing a felony charge of aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon, along with a DUI charge for the incident. The case is before Judge Luis Garcia and Lopez is due in court Jan. 3 for a pretrial hearing.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Upper Keys woman racks up 2nd DUI case in 2 months."