A Tucson woman accused of killing a 14-year-old bicyclist in an alcohol-related crash was re-arrested Thursday morning after testing positive for alcohol following a court appearance.
An officer with Pima County’s pretrial services division told Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields that breath tests administered to Glenda Rumsey after court showed she had a blood alcohol content of 0.012 and 0.007.
Rumsey, 42, has been out of jail on $50,000 bond since shortly after the Jan. 12 death of Jose Rincon. She was ordered not to drink alcohol and to take Antabuse, a drug that makes people ill if they drink alcohol.
According to Tucson police, Rincon and Oscar Perez were riding their bicycles east on Broadway near Vozack Lane on the East Side at around 7:20 p.m. Jan. 12 when Rumsey struck both teens with her car.
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Rumsey continued driving but stopped a half-mile later, police said.
Rincon was killed. Rumsey, who's blood alcohol content tested at 0.249, was indicted Jan. 22 on manslaughter, aggravated assault and driving-under-the- influence charges. The legal limit is 0.08. She was also charged with leaving the scene after causing a fatal crash.
Rumsey was in court this morning so attorneys on the case could discuss future court dates and following the hearing, Rumsey met with the officer from pretrial services.
Approximately an hour later, the officer came back to court to inform Fields of the positive breath tests. She also informed the judge Rumsey told her she had had two non-alcoholic beers Wednesday night.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Mark Diebolt asked Fields to take Rumsey into custody immediately, calling her a “threat to the community.”
Defense attorney Michael Bloom objected, saying the breath tests only showed “trace” amounts of alcohol in her system, which could be fully explained by the “near beers.”
If she had to be taken into custody, Bloom suggested Rumsey be allowed to turn herself in Friday morning, giving her time to make arrangements for her children, pets and work.
Had Rumsey really had two “neer beers” Wednesday night, the small amount of alcohol in them would have burned off by this morning, Diebolt said.
“I think there’s some deception going on,” Diebolt said.
Fields had Rumsey arrested immediately, telling Bloom he was unwilling to take a chance on her.
The judge set a new bond of $75,000.
Rumsey was led out of the courtroom sobbing as Rincon’s father, who is also named Jose, watched.
Rumsey is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 14.
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