Woman charged with DUI after drunken horse ride

BILLINGS (AP) — A Billings woman has denied drunken driving for an arrest that happened shortly after police escorted her home when they found her riding a horse while intoxicated.

The Billings Gazette reports 43-year-old Dawnalee Ellis-Peterson was arraigned on the felony DUI charge Friday before District Judge Mary Jane Knisley. She also pleaded not guilty to driving without a license or insurance.

Prosecutors say Ellis-Peterson was "extremely intoxicated" on the morning of April 29 as she rode a horse on a Billings street. Officers spoke with her and allowed her to return home.

A short time later, a neighbor called police to report the woman had just driven away in a pickup truck. Officers located Ellis-Peterson and arrested her.

Ellis-Peterson has previous DUI convictions in 1993, 1997 and 2007.