Photos by Amy Lisenbe/Nevada Appeal
A Carson City psychologist was arrested Monday for drunken driving after she drove into parked cars, killing the puppy she held in her lap.
With several witnesses looking on, Sheri Skidmore, 53, was unable to walk along the straight line of a parking space and refused to complete a field sobriety test to determine if she was intoxicated at the scene of the 2:23 p.m. accident in front of 896 W. Nye Lane - a dead end.
According to Sgt. Earl Mays, Skidmore drove her Land Rover through two front yards and a street lamp before she slammed into a parked Ford F150 pickup truck and a Mitsubishi Lancer.
In driving through the yards, the Land Rover picked up a 12-foot piece of chain link railing that became impaled in its windshield.
Deputy Sal Acosta said that at the time of the accident Skidmore was holding her 5-month-old Cocker Spaniel, Kynoa, in her lap. The small black puppy was killed from the force of the airbag, said Acosta.
Hee Yoon of Reno was working on the second floor of the Professional Building with Apex Computers, when he heard Skidmore's vehicle drive through the yards.
By the time he made it outside, the Land Rover had totaled his Mitsubishi Lancer.
He said he knew immediately from the blood that the dog was dead.
"She got out the car and she wasn't concerned about herself. She was worried about her dog," Yoon said.
The doctor allegedly told Acosta she was on her way back from lunch with friends where she'd had a glass of wine. Acosta said he recovered a nearly empty bottle of Monterey Chardonnay from Skidmore's vehicle.
He said Skidmore refused medical treatment for an apparent broken wrist.
She was booked into the Carson City Jail on suspicion of first-offense drunken driving. Her bail was set at $1,132.
According to the State of Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners, Skidmore's psychology license is active and in good standing. She has been licensed in the state since 1997.
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.