CLEAR LAKE – A Clear Lake woman was arrested last week after allegedly picking up her children from daycare while intoxicated.
According to Clear Lake police, Amy Marie Novak, 30, showed up at about 6:30 PM on Friday, May 31st at Charlie Brown Daycare center in Clear Lake to pick up her two children.
“We had a report that she was intoxicated,” Clear Lake Chief of Police Greg Peterson said Tuesday.
“When our officers arrived they had probable cause to believe that she was intoxicated and had driven to the daycare center that way. Prior to the arrival of our officers she had loaded the children into the vehicle and started to drive away with them.”
Novak was arrested and taken to the Cero Gordo County Jail. She has been charged with operating while intoxicated, 2nd offense as well as child endangerment. She posted $4,000 cash bond (10%) and was released. She faces a June 7th preliminary hearing.
Novak was found guilty of operating while intoxicated, 1st offense on January 10th, 2013 after a September 1st, 2012 incident where she was also arrested by Clear Lake police. Novak still owes $2,056.25 to Iowa courts in that case.
Thank u everyone. I am the grandma of these 2 kids. My son was called by daycare when kids were not picked up.. She got the kids & started to leave. He called the police on her that she was drunk & has the kids… Thanks to a great dispatcher who stayed on line with him & the officer running on foot ..along with 2 cop cars. My grandkids were safe. Its sad they witnessed this. Amy is a good person, a hard worker but she has fallen on bad times. I hope she can overcome this & get back to the person she was before.. as for my grandkids ….. they have a great Dad who puts them first. Also Uncles & Aunts …along with myself & their other grandparents who will be there for them. The daycare center did right & i think the world of them.. as for my son… I am very proud of u & glad u were there. I know ur Dad is smiling down at you…. love to u & the kids
Best wishes to you, Amy, your grandchildren, and your son, Judy. I hope Amy gets some help and will be back on the right track soon. She is lucky to have a supportive family surrounding her.
You idiots talking about snitching. Grow the f&#k up. Do you think her kids don’t have rights? Get a fricking clue. This is a sad situation. First, I would hope she has enough brains to not try and pick her kids up in that condition. If you don’t have that much sense then obviously you shouldn’t be having children, yet. That’s just the fact, Jack!! Don’t show your ignorance trying to defend what she did. Again, this is too sad. We have kids that need a responsible mother and a mother that needs to believe in herself more than she has been. Raise your standards mom!
here the deal see ya’ll don’t get that snitchin rattin wateva gona get someone in deep so ya’ll jus keep yo mouts shut if ya kno what good 4 ya
Shut up and stop making multiple names. Your comments are all worthless.
Ummm ya. Shut your ignorant piehole trash person.
I’d be willing to bet money she’s getting state support/assistance with that daycare bill…she’s out drinking/getting drunk while the state pays for her daycare…then she comes to pick them up drunk…some real parenting there! NOT! What kind of an idiot sticks up for this kind of behavior? When do children, their safety, and their wellbeing not come first and foremost? Who the hell doesn’t put that first? Thank heavens for the daycare being mandatory reporters and calling the authorities! They should have never let her put those kids in that car to begin with until the cops got there! This ‘mom’ should NOT have custody! She obviously can’t make good choices for herself, let alone her children!
More than likely doesn’t work and on government assistance that should be taken away from her especially if she arrested for OWI. Why should we paying her way??? If she has money to go out partying then she should be paying for her own groceries, rent and daycare. Sickens me, no morals or values. The kids should be taken away from her since this is not her first offense, then she would loose her government assitance and have to work like the rest of us do. She is always in the bars drunk and hanging all over men. Thank you to Charlie Brown for doing their job. Probably not the first or last time she has picked up her kids intoxicated.
I Know this woman and it is a very sad situation. But please don’t make assumptions. She is not on State assistance and last I knew she was working TWO jobs. Just saw her at the one last week. Amy please grow up and realize that your children are the most important thing you’ll ever have.
According to the DCI website only one BAC was performed in Clear lake that day, about 30 minutes after this call. The female subject blew a .221
The Iowa DCI site shows on May 31st at 7:47 PM, a test was given by the CLPD to a female. She blew .211 twice. Only test given that day by CLPD.
In Paris you can walk around with a bottle of beer and no one cares. Here in Iowa’s nanny state a jack booted thug will eventually have his boots on your neck for holding a beer in public.
Thank you for turning her in!!! You may have saved a life today!!!!!!!!!
Old school I hope Amy runs over your dumb ass, If she would hurt one of your kin you’d be all over her wanting her taken off the road, Wake Up
Maybe “old school” needs to go back to school. (Drunk driving school)
I don’t think it’s snitching when someone was just trying to protect the children. The daycare provider is considered a mandatory reporter and could call DHS as well for this. I just wish the daycare provider wouldn’t have let her take the kids at all until law enforcement arrived.
This is the best comment out of the entire thread. Adults can make their own decision and to be honest, I don’t really care what people do with their own lives. But mandatory reporting is one of the better safe guards out there against child abuse. This woman wasn’t a little buzzed. She blew almost three times the legal limit. I’m sorry but you don’t get to load kids up into a vehicle at that point.
Insightful comment. Thanks for contributing.
I agree. It’s too bad she got out the door with her children, but perhaps mandatory reporters don’t have the legal right to detain them. It would be interesting to know one way or the other about this. I’ll bet many businesses run into this situation and wonder what to do if there isn’t a corporate policy spelled out. Some alcoholics mask it so well that you have no idea they are drunk.
Actually that’s a very good question Katie. I for one would like an answer to that. Can a mandatory reporter detain under these circumstances, or would it be considered false imprisonment?
@Katie-I would think that a mandatory reporter has no legal status and they would only be able to do what any private citizen could do. They would have to be careful on anything physical so they don’t get charged with assault.
Who ratted on Amy. That’s the first thing. Snitchin’ aint cool, y’all.
Neither is picking you kids up from daycare intoxicated either; somebody has to look out for the kids. She frequents the bars quite a bit in town, maybe best thing for her children if they were taken away from her since she always in the bar clearly not a priority.
Parents get to party when the kids away too!
I Don’t think she’ll be using that day care anymore. It seems some businesses enjoy tattling on customers these days. Mind your own business.
“Mind your own business”. Last time I checked ANYONE driving drunk on public roadways is ANYONE’S business! That daycare sounds like a GREAT daycare that truly cares for it’s kids and values their lives as well as everyone else’s lives out on the public roadways when this intoxicated person picked up her children. Since myself, my family, my friends and the rest of the world are out on those roadways that the nosey people were worrying about, I for one am VERY THANKSFUL that they stuck their nose into other people’s business.
Not everyone who drinks turns into a bad driver and crashes. How did they know how drunk she was, did they test her? Snitches are not heros.
http://northiowatoday.com/2012/06/06/bookmeyer-dont-be-afraid-of-snitchin/
Daycares are mandatory reporters, shows the level of intelligence people have sticking up for a drunk driver over safety of a child. Sad world we live in these days… besides what she doing showing up intoxicated doesn’t she work? Probably not!
Yeah, she does not deserve those kids if she’s going to show up at a daycare three sheets to the wind.
She should find a non-snitchin’ daycare.
There’s a nice one in Hell!
Are you stupid???? Day care workers are mandatory reporters!! Everyone would be screaming sue the daycare if she got her kids killed. You are a complete idiot and a perfect example of what is wrong in society today.
I have a dream…you must be living in a dream! to knowingly let someone pick up children who has been drinking…more like a nightmare!
I hope she gets help. Sorry for the kids. Who knows what could have happened.
Sad thing majority of drunk drivers as in this case continue to drive drunk after their first offense. If she wasn’t drunk she wouldn’t of been arrested. She needs to be accountable for her actions and stop making excuses and be a better role model for her kids.
Prolly asked her to pay for the week first.
I guess she thought she was immune to the law. That’ll teach her.