Teacher arrested in felony DUI

A Carson City charter school teacher was arrested Sunday on suspicion of felony drunken driving.

Abbey Gardner, 27, a teacher with Silver State High School, was booked into the Carson City Jail at 7:54 p.m. on suspicion of felony third-offense drunken driving, misdemeanor hit and run and obstructing a police officer.

According to Deputy Dan Ochsenschlager, Gardner was in her 2007 Honda sedan when she struck a parked car on Division Street between Eighth and Ninth streets. The vehicle's owner and a friend were standing outside the car and witnessed the accident, said Ochsenschlager.

A passerby also saw the accident, and when Gardner allegedly failed to stop, the witness followed her to Tenth and Division streets, where she struck a snow bank.

Ochsenschlager said Gardner got out of her vehicle there and witnesses were trying to prevent her from leaving.

"As soon as I pulled up, she just looked at me and started running north on Nevada Street," the officer said.

He said because of the snowfall, Gardner couldn't run very fast. He said he followed slowly in his vehicle for about a block and when she looked like she was done running, he got out and arrested her.

Gardner, a theater teacher, has been previously convicted of drunken driving in Reno in March and Carson City in June 2004, court records indicate.

Her bail was set at $10,000.