Woman Pleads Guilty to Driving While Intoxicated, Eluding Police Officers Who Found Her Asleep at Wheel
NORFOLK, Va. — Charlotte Elizabeth Beckley, 40, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and eluding police earlier this year when officers found her asleep at the wheel, and she chose to drive away rather than exit her car.
Around 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2025, Norfolk Police patrol officers saw Ms. Beckley’s car stopped at the intersection of Church Street and East Virginia Beach Boulevard and holding up traffic while the light was green. The officers parked their patrol cars in front of and behind Ms. Beckley’s car, they walked up to Ms. Beckley’s car, and they saw her slumped over her steering wheel asleep with her foot on the brake while the car was still running and the gear was in drive. For several minutes, the officers attempted to wake Ms. Beckley by repeatedly knocking on her window and yelling. When Ms. Beckley woke up, her car rolled forward, and the officers told her to put her car in park. Rather than stop, Ms. Beckley continued driving forward, pushed the patrol car in front of her out of the way, and fled down Church Street. The officers returned to their cars and pursued Ms. Beckley until she stopped driving at a construction site at the intersection of Church and Bute streets.
On Sept. 8, Ms. Beckley entered an agreement to plead guilty to felony eluding and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and to face an active sentence not to exceed the midpoint of her sentencing guidelines. In exchange for her guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of an additional misdemeanor charge and traffic infraction resulting from the incident. Judge Robert B. Rigney took Ms. Beckley’s plea agreement under advisement, pending a review of her pre-sentence report and sentencing guidelines. Ms. Beckley’s sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 16, 2026.
“The fact that Ms. Beckley was driving while intoxicated was bad enough, but had she left it at that she would have committed no more than a misdemeanor,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “By eluding the police while drunk — endangering herself, the officers, and anyone else nearby — Ms. Beckley elevated her crime to a felony. The lesson from cases like this is simple: If the police tell you to stop, stop, before you make things worse.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Christina L. Brady is prosecuting Ms. Beckley’s case, and Norfolk Police Officer Cesar Kerruish led the investigation.
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