Ballwin Woman Faces Felony DWI Charge After Bumping Car

A Ballwin woman faces her fourth alcohol-related driving charge since 2006 after being stopped by Chesterfield Police.

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Gretchen Grothaus, 39, of the first block of Sweet Meadows Lane in Ballwin, was charged Feb. 7 with driving while intoxicated as an aggravated offender, a class C felony. She has three previous convictions involving alcohol-impaired driving.

Chesterfield Police said Grothaus was driving about 3:43 p.m. June 10 when her car struck a bumper of another car in Chesterfied, but Grothaus did not stop. The other driver reported seeing Grothaus’ car swerving within her lane.

An officer pulled Grothaus over near her home and smelled a strong odor of alcohol and saw she had watery and bloodshot eyes. A Breathalyzer test indicated her blood-alcohol content was 0.231 percent, nearly three times the legal limit.

Bail has been set at $10,000 in the case.

Grothaus also has two convictions on driving with excessive blood-alcohol content, once in 2009 in Manchester and another in 2008 in Chesterfield. She also has a 2006 DWI conviction in Manchester.

For more crime information on Ballwin-Ellisville Patch, see the following articles:

• Ballwin Man Charged With Third DWI Since 2008
• West County Woman Charged With Assault in DWI Crash