Woman appears in court on DUI charges following crash involving INL bus that left multiple people injured
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ARCO – A woman appeared in court last week for violating the terms of her release after allegedly causing a DUI crash that sent multiple Idaho National Laboratory employees to the hospital.
Teresa Lipman, 59, of Hailey is charged with two counts of felony aggravated DUI in Butte County for the alleged crash.
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Lipman was initially charged with one count of aggravated DUI for the bus crash, and she was later given a second charge in that case.
She later allegedly violated her terms of release and was cited in Blaine County for refusing a breath test after allegedly drunk driving to a gas station in December. On Jan. 16, she was charged in Butte County again with felony operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol for allegedly driving drunk to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Emily Jones with the Idaho Mountain Express, Magistrate Judge Jennifer Haemmerle said during the Jan. 21 court hearing that she doesn’t believe Lipman should be allowed to operate any kind of motorized machinery.
“I don’t care if it’s a lawn mower. If it doesn’t have an interlock device on it, you are not operating it, in order to keep this society safe from this threat of harm you pose,” the judge reportedly said.
INL bus crash
Idaho State Police were called to a “mass casualty incident” on Sept. 4 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 26 for a crash involving a Honda pilot and an INL passenger bus.
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Deputies say the INL bus was “stuck up on multiple jersey barriers,” and the Honda was “upside down on its roof in the dirt approximately 50 feet off the roadway.”
The driver of the INL bus was reportedly extricated by INL firefighters, due to being pinned inside the cab of the bus. He was transported to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls.
Lipman was identified as being the driver of the Honda and was also transported to EIRMC, along with five injured INL passengers.
On Sept. 6, an Idaho State Police trooper received a video of the crash from INL, reportedly showing “Lipman pulling out in front of the INL bus, making an illegal left turn from a right-only lane.”
Court documents say her blood alcohol content level was .223. The legal limit is 0.08.
Alleged release violations
On Dec. 6, a Hailey Police officer was asked to perform a welfare check on Lipman at her home.
When they arrived, nobody was there, but the officer noticed a red Ford Bronco driving down the road, driven by a woman.
After investigating, the officer learned it was likely Lipman’s car, and followed her to a Stinker Store.
The officer found Lipman inside where she was reportedly “unstable on her feet” and spoke slurred with “glassy eyes”.
Lipman performed a few DUI tests and stated she was “involved in a traffic collision in September 2024, and a physical altercation in the beginning of November 2024,” according to court documents.
Lipman reportedly failed all six DUI tests. She did not agree to a breath test and refused to provide a breath sample. She was then cited for refusal of a DUI and released. She was later charged with misdemeanor DUI.
Another alleged incident
On Jan. 16, Lipman arrived to the Butte County Sheriff’s office to be booked and released as part of an agreement for pre-trial release for the pending INL bus crash case.
A deputy writes that when he met with Lipman at the Sheriff’s Office, she”exhibited slurred speech and drooping posture.” They also write that she “was unsteady on her feet and grasped at her lower abdomen constantly, telling (the deputy) she had many broken bones from her accident as well as a previous TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).”
Lipman reportedly admitted to driving to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies looked up security footage which allegedly showed Lipman pull into the parking lot, exit the car and walk into the building.
On her passenger seat, deputies found an unopened can of WhiteClaw hard seltzer.
Lipman was then given a urine analysis test, which showed alcohol in her system. Her blood alcohol content level was reportedly .133/.134.
She is currently being held at the Blaine County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
She is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 30. If convicted, she could face up to 30 years in prison.
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