New OWI charge for Chesterton woman with prior case involving child

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Christine Timm. | Provided Photo~Sun-Times Media ptmet

Updated: March 12, 2012 8:06AM

The death of her daughter in an impaired driving crash may have kept Christine Timm from driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol for a while, but it did not deter her forever.

Timm, 41, of Chesterton, was arrested just before midnight Thursday and faces a number of charges - including misdemeanor drunken driving and felony possession of a legend drug - during a traffic stop on U.S. 12, east of County Road 500E.

Police said Timm’s green Ford Taurus was swerving and going 56 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone, then missed a turn and went into a field when an officer stopped her. Despite the late hour, Timm reportedly said she was headed home from a doctor’s appointment.

She failed field sobriety tests and a breath alcohol test showed she was three-and-a-half times over the legal limit, police said. She also allegedly fought when officers put her in handcuffs, flailed in the back seat and yelled obscenities at officers, telling them they should be busy with more serious offenders. Police said a narcotic painkiller Timm was not prescribed fell out of her pocket while at Porter hospital for a blood warrant.

She also is charged with misdemeanor resisting law enforcement and disorderly conduct and ticketed for failure to obey a traffic control device, speeding and making an improper turn.

In July 1998 in Porter, Timm was at the wheel and under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and amphetamines when her 5-year-old daughter, Danielle, fell from the car window and was run over by its rear wheel.

In May 1999, she was sentenced to two months straight time in jail and six months home probation, plus counseling, after she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving. She initially had been charged with causing a death while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and six other charges. However, then-Porter County Prosecutor James Douglas believed the state would have a difficult time convincing a jury Timm’s impaired driving was directly connected to her daughter’s death, according to Post-Tribune archives. Another adult had been in the vehicle, and the investigating officer was unable to testify because he was undergoing cancer treatment.

During her sentencing hearing, Timm told Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper, “I wish I could go back in time and make more responsible choices.”

When she was arrested this time and asked about prior convictions, however, Timm made a profanity-laced statement that attributed her child’s death to her “hanging out the window like a (expletive expletive),” according to the arrest report.