A Norfolk woman who was found passed out behind the wheel at a major intersection and then chose to flee instead of comply with officers has pleaded guilty to DUI and felony eluding.
Charlotte Elizabeth Beckley, 40, was asleep in her car at 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2025, when Norfolk police spotted her vehicle stopped at the green light at Church Street and East Virginia Beach Boulevard. The engine was running, the car was in drive, and her foot was still on the brake.
Officers boxed her in with their patrol cars and tried to wake her by knocking on the windows and shouting. When she came to, officers say the car started creeping forward. Instead of putting it in park like they told her to, Beckley kept driving — pushing the patrol car ahead of her out of the way and taking off down Church Street.
Police chased her for several blocks until she finally stopped at a construction site at Church and Bute streets.
On Sept. 8, Beckley agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of eluding police and a misdemeanor DUI. Under the deal, prosecutors dropped a separate misdemeanor and traffic infraction. She’ll face a sentence capped at the midpoint of state sentencing guidelines, but the final decision is up to Judge Robert B. Rigney, who’s reviewing her pre-sentencing report. Sentencing is set for Jan. 16, 2026.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said Beckley made things much worse for herself by running.
“The fact that Ms. Beckley was driving while intoxicated was bad enough, but had she left it at that she would have committed no more than a misdemeanor,” he said. “By eluding the police while drunk — endangering herself, the officers, and anyone else nearby — Ms. Beckley elevated her crime to a felony. The lesson from cases like this is simple: If the police tell you to stop, stop, before you make things worse.”