Bloomington woman arrested after station wagon crashes into storefront

Oct. 29--A Bloomington mother who police say crashed a station wagon into the front of the Bloomington Bagel Co. Wednesday night was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Police say Kristina Mae Houston's four children were not properly restrained in car seats or booster seats when she struck the storefront just before 9 p.m.

A 6-year-old girl suffered a cut lip and a bleeding mouth. The girl told police she had been in the back of the station wagon and she hit her face on a seat upon impact, according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters. Three boys -- ages 4, 2 and 6 months -- were not injured.

Officials from the Department of Child Services met with police at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where the children were checked and treated. The mother submitted to a blood draw as part of the operating-while- intoxicated investigation at the hospital.

Witnesses to the downtown crash reported seeing Houston pull at her daughter's sleeve in an attempt to leave with the rest of the family down an alley. Douglas Michael Houston, her husband, was also at the scene and told police he had not been in the vehicle.

Police found a green smoking device that smelled like Spice, a synthetic marijuana, under the driver's seat of the station wagon, Qualters said.

Kristina Houston, 24, of 401 S. Washington St., was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and possession of paraphernalia. She also received traffic citations for not having the children restrained in their car seats or booster seats and operating a vehicle without insurance.

Douglas Houston, 24, of Gosport, was arrested hours later on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement, theft, criminal mischief, possession of a synthetic drug and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

Bloomington police responded to a report of a man breaking the window of a pickup truck in the 400 block of East 17th Street at 12:09 a.m. After a foot chase, police say, they caught Douglas Houston, and found him in possession of four plastic baggies of Spice and a book bag full of items, including a Macy's credit card, an Indiana University sweatshirt, a black hat and a laptop with a gingerbread man sticker.

He told police he broke the window on the truck, and said he found the items in the trash.

Kristina Houston was booked into the Monroe County Jail at 2:20 Thursday morning, and her bond was set at $2,000 surety, $500 cash.

Douglas Houston was booked into the Monroe County Jail at 3:03 a.m. Thursday morning, and his bond is on a hold for a probation violation.

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