How a woman charged with DUI in Myrtle Beach became a suspect and victim on the same day
Talk about a Valentine’s Day to forget.
A woman arrested in the wee hours of Friday morning on driving under the influence charges reported less than 24 hours later that her vehicle had been stolen while she was incarcerated, according to a pair of Myrtle Beach police reports.
At approximately 3:14 a.m. Friday, police pulled over the driver of a black Nissan Rogue who drove up onto a median and swerved in and out of her lane multiple times. The driver — later identified as Jessica Renee Mooris — initially said she was swerving while trying to turn on her phone while not paying attention to the road, the report states. When the officer asked if she’d had anything to drink that night, Mooris at first said no before changing her answer to “not really,” police noted.
Mooris then admitted to having some wine earlier without specifying further, according to the report. Police said there was an odor of alcohol and the driver had glassy, bloodshot eyes while giving “slow and abnormal” responses to questions.
Mooris declined to take a sobriety test and therefore was arrested for DUI at approximately 3:25 a.m., the report states. She was taken to Myrtle Beach Jail, where she was charged with DUI first offense.
Later in the day, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Mooris showed back up at the police station to report her vehicle had been stolen. She told police she was arrested in a parking lot around 12th Avenue South in the wee hours of the morning and noted she had her keys with her at the time and retrieved them once released from jail, according to the second incident report.
Mooris told police she had gone to retrieve the vehicle at around 10 a.m. and it was not there. She said she figured it had been towed while she was incarcerated since there is no spare key in existence, the report states.
Mooris told police she became concerned throughout the day when she was unable to find any records of the car being towed nor a repossession from the bank. At that point, she went to the police station to report it stolen, according to the report.
Officers looked at city surveillance cameras but did not find any footage including the vehicle, the report states. Police then entered the vehicle in the National Crime Information Center.
