A US Marine Corps officer who allegedly admitted to “drinking before driving” has been arrested in Virginia for seriously injuring two teenagers.
Major Beth Ellen Abbott, 39, was charged with one count of DUI. According to Military.com.
The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the media that Abbott was the driver who allegedly hit a pedestrian on May 31.
At around 9 p.m. at Acquia Harbor near Marine Corps Base Quantico, about 80 miles south of Washington, D.C., agents responded to a call of two 14-year-old boys who had been hit by a car.
“[Abbott] “She had cloudy and red eyes, had bad breath that smelled of alcoholic beverages, and admitted to consuming alcohol before driving,” police said in a statement. said in a press release.
The two 14-year-old victims were airlifted to a nearby hospital in critical condition and are expected to make a full recovery.
Abbott served as a sergeant major at Marine Corps Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, but was stripped of his title after the crash, the paper reported.
Her online biography, now deleted, cites her as a battalion sergeant in a battalion of combat instructors.
The Marine Corps is “aware of the charges against Sergeant Johnson. Major Abbott was relieved of duty early tonight,” Training and Education Command spokesman Major Daniel Phillips told the magazine.
“We are coordinating with local authorities for an ongoing investigation during this difficult time,” the branch said.
A Michigan native, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003 and has served on multiple combat deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.
During his tenure, Abbott also received the Purple Heart and two martial arts ribbons.
After her first deployment to Iraq in 2006, she returned to the United States and served as a training instructor at the Marine Corps Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina, before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2010.
