LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Agents with the Arkansas Alcohol Beverage Control Board's enforcement arm launched an investigation into Sunday's fatal wrong-way crash involving a North Little Rock woman and MEMS ambulance.
"I've been in law enforcement for a long time and for somebody to go the wrong way on the highway for that amount of time, then there's probably something that needs to be looked into on our end," said Boyce Hamlet, director of ABC enforcement.
On Monday, KATV uncovered multiple 911 calls made prior to Sunday's wrong-way crash on Interstate 40 outside Maumelle - the calls suggesting the wrong-way driver, 21-year-old Brianna Carter, had been driving in the wrong direction for at least seven miles before the collision that killed her.
According to an ABC enforcement memo, Tuesday an ABC agent visited Midtown Billiards in Little Rock's SOMA district, where a manager told the agent that Carter was "in fact a patron in the bar" the morning she died.
Video obtained by ABC from Midtown surveillance cameras shows that Carter appears to have "had approximately 3-4 beers, and one shot of whiskey," according to the ABC memo.
Carter was at Midtown from 1:18 AM until 4:50 AM, according to the ABC memo, when video shows Carter approaching the front door, swaying "once but recovers enough to exit alone." The surveillance video shows Carter standing at the "front door for a few moments and [speaking] with front door personnel, and an LRPD officer before exiting," ABC's memo said.
Outside video captures Carter walking across Main Street to her parked vehicle, sitting in her car for several minutes, before "driving off the premise," according to the memo.
Hamlet said, "several violations could be in play here," however Hamlet said it's too early in the investigation to determine if any "outlets" violated ABC regulations.
"A young lady lost her life, two first responders have been injured - so we're going to take on a very thorough, very fair look at the circumstances that night," said Hamlet. "If one of our outlets acted in a manner that was inappropriate or outside the rules and regulations of our agency, then we're going to hold them accountable."
Little Rock Police declined to release the name of the uniformed officer pictured in the surveillance video at Midtown, however, LRPD Public Affairs Officer Eric Barnes said the department has since launched an internal investigation into the situation.
Carter's toxicology results won't be available until later this month. KATV reached out to Carter's mother for comment, but she declined to do so until after the investigation is completed.