Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies apprehended a motorist earlier this week for a suspected DUI — the same woman who in 2008 hit and killed a deputy’s wife while driving under the influence.
Those who worked with Joseph Lopez 11 years ago hoped Elizabeth Jacobson learned a life-changing lesson when she struck the squad car he and his wife were riding in on New Year’s Day, Ramsey County Undersheriff Jeff Ramacher said.
But Jacobson, formerly Elizabeth Rhodes, now is accused of driving while intoxicated twice in the last three weeks. The 34-year-old Brooklyn Park woman was charged with a first-degree DUI in Anoka County after someone reported she was drinking while driving her 10-year-old daughter in Lino Lakes on May 29, according to court records.
Then on Tuesday, the Ramsey County sheriff’s office got a request around 2:30 p.m. to do a welfare check on a woman who appeared to be over the legal drinking and driving limit who just pulled in to a Freedom gas station in Shoreview, Ramacher said.
The caller said the woman had been driving erratically before pulling into the parking lot, and was now slumped over the vehicle.
While officers were en route to the scene, they got word Jacobson left the gas station. Deputies found her on the roadway and attempted to pull her over near Centerville Road and County Road J.
But Jacobson didn’t stop, Ramacher said. A deputy eventually used maneuvered to disable the vehicle at the bottom of the entrance ramp onto southbound Interstate 35 E and approached the vehicle.
Jacobson, who was alone in the vehicle, refused to open the door, forcing a deputy to use a baton to break a window to enter the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed against her in Ramsey County District Court on Thursday.
She was charged with a felony-level DWI as well as one count of fleeing police.
After helping her out of her vehicle, Jacobson dropped to the ground and “appeared very lethargic,” the complaint said.
She denied drinking, but told deputies she’d taken Effexor, an antidepressant.
She refused to perform field sobriety tests after being taken to a patrol station and told deputies she wanted to die, the complaint said.
Jacobson was eventually taken to Regions Hospital after law enforcement obtained a search warrant to draw her blood. The results of that test are pending.
During their subsequent investigation, deputies found an empty bottle of vodka in the driver’s side door panel of Jacobson’s vehicle, as well as a prescription bottle of Effexor in her purse, the charges say.
Effexor is not supposed to be mixed with alcohol, authorities say.
The incident is troubling, especially considering Jacobson’s past, Ramacher said.
“Of course, the hope would be that after she was sentenced (for criminal vehicular homicide) that the experience would resonate with her to the point where she never gets behind the wheel intoxicated again, ever … but we had an event three weeks ago in Anoka County and now an event (in Ramsey County ),” he said. “It’s frustrating to see when those things happen.”
The arresting officers Tuesday did not make the connection between Jacobson and Lopez, Ramacher said, adding that Lopez retired a few years after his wife was killed, so many current staff at the sheriff’s office don’t know him.
However, Ramacher has been there more than 20 years.
“Her name was fresh in my memory (from the Anoka County incident) … so I put the puzzle pieces together,” he said.
Jacobson posted $25,000 bail with conditions in that case on May 31 and was released from custody. The conditions include refraining from alcohol use, remaining law abiding and participating in an intensive supervision program, according to court records.
Kyle Dreger was hired to represent Jacobson in that case. Dreger said he was still learning about the details of her most recent arrest and that it was too soon to comment on the allegations.
“The big thing to keep in mind is that innocent until proven guilty is very important. … Just charges doesn’t mean someone is guilty of an offense, but that seems to get lost in the system lately.”
He added that he had not yet been in touch with Jacobson regarding her most recent arrest, just her family.
Jacobson’s mother, Barbara Rhodes, emphasized Thursday that while her daughter is a human who makes mistakes, they don’t define who she is.
“She is a very loving mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt. She would do just about anything for anybody, that’s just who she is,” Rhodes said. “She’s made mistakes, tragic mistakes, and she knows that.
She added that her daughter feels deep remorse for causing the the death of Margaret Lopez.
“She cries over it. She carries the guilty of it every day,” Rhodes said.
As far as the most recent allegations facing her daughter, Rhodes declined to comment, but said she wanted the Lopez family to know that her daughter and their entire family continue to offer their condolences for what happened.
Ramacher said that a deputy was attempting to reach Lopez to let him know about the new allegations. Neither he nor his family could be immediately reached for comment.
Jacobson killed Margaret Lopez and injured Joseph Lopez when she crashed head-on into Lopez’s squad car while driving the wrong way on U.S. 10 near Interstate 35E in Mounds View on New Year’s Day 2008.
Margaret Lopez was along for a ride-along with her husband at the time.
Jacobson received a nearly five-year prison sentence.
“Obviously, this is a woman that has proven to us that she is a public safety threat behind the wheel and she continues to show us a pattern of behavior that is not acceptable,” Ramacher said.