A female motorist charged with causing a wrong-way crash in Gwinnett County allegedly while driving under the influence of a powerful sedative will be released on bond to enter a 12-week residential rehab program, Channel 2 Action News reported.
The mother of Beverly Lynne Wilkins agreed to put up her home in Virginia as collateral for the $100,000 bond approved by Gwinnett County Magistrate Court Judge Robert Mitchum at a court hearing Thursday.
“We would like to get Ms. Wilkins into a treatment program. I have a letter if the court would like to see it saying that they have accepted her,” defense attorney Holly Hughes said at the hearing. “She would reside there. She would be supervised and monitored 24 hours.”
Wilkins must enter the Atlanta drug recovery program as soon as she leaves jail. She also must surrender her passport, submit to random drug and alcohol testing and, upon completing the rehab program, be under house arrest while her case is pending.
The 37-year-old Dacula woman has been charged with more than a dozen offenses, including five felony counts of causing serious injury by vehicle and a felony drug charge, according to Gwinnett County jail records. Misdemeanor and traffic charges include theft by taking, hit and run and driving under the influence of drugs, the records show.
Wilkins is suspected of having been under the influence of a Propofol she allegedly had stolen from Gwinnett Medical Center at the time of the Aug. 24 wreck in the westbound lanes of Ga. 316 at Winder Highway.
Investigators said they found an IV bag and a needle in the front seat of Wilkins’ wrecked SUV, and later recovered vials of the drug Propofol from her purse. Police have said they believed Wilkins injected herself with two vials of the drug just before the accident.
The woman allegedly drove her 2007 Saturn Vue three miles in the wrong direction, prompting frantic calls to 911 from 10 other drivers before the crash. She and five people in the vehicle she collided with, a 2012 Honda Civic, were hurt, police said.
Wilkins worked for Gwinnett Anesthesia Services, which is used by Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Channel 2 reported.
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