Andrea Johnson/MDN The Landing Bar & Bottle Shop is shown with a boarded up window on Wednesday afternoon. Mariah Brien, 22, allegedly drove a car into the store late Tuesday evening. She has been charged in district court.

A 22-year-old Minot woman is accused of driving into the front of The Landing Bar and Bottle Shop on Tuesday night while drunk and later lying to the police about the accident.

Mariah Hope Brien is charged with leaving the scene of an injury accident, a Class A misdemeanor, and false reports to law enforcement or to other security officials, also a Class A misdemeanor.

Brien made an initial appearance in district court in Minot on Wednesday, where she asked Judge Gary Lee for a lenient bond because she is seven months pregnant, has a high risk pregnancy, and has a 16-month-old daughter at home whom her parents will find it difficult to provide care for because of work demands.

Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney Caitlyn Pierson noted that Brien is currently on supervised probation on an escape charge and was charged with DUI in Minot Municipal Court. Court records show that Brien pleaded guilty to that charge on Wednesday. Municipal Judge Mark Rasmuson gave Brien a suspended jail sentence of four days, required her to obtain a chemical dependency evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, and to pay $525 in court costs.

Pierson said jail might be the safest place at the moment for Brien and her unborn child. Pierson said the state will likely ask for suspended jail time. Lee set bond at $1,500 cash or corporate surety and set a pretrial conference date for April 4.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Brien drove her boyfriend’s white 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera into the front of the building at 2015 North Broadway at 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday. A 23-year-old clerk was working behind the counter at the time of the crash. Items on the shelves fell on him and he jumped forward to get out of the way. He sustained cuts and scrapes from the items that fell on him. The glass windows and doors at the front of the building were shattered and the metal frames of the doors were pushed inward. Liquor and wine bottles were broken and on the ground. The shelving behind the counter inside the store was damaged and pushed several feet inward, according to the affidavit, and there was glass and debris on the ground. Brien drove away after the accident.

Police later located Brien at an apartment at 2045 5th Street NW. When police went inside the building, they lingered outside in the hallway and heard a woman inside one of the apartments talking on the phone about the accident. Brien allegedly told her friend that she had driven to the liquor store to get her boyfriend a sandwich before she got home. She said she hadn’t gotten out of the vehicle when it crashed and it was possible no one knew she was the driver. Brien then went outside to talk to police and told them that she never left the house and it was her friend who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Brien matched the description of the driver given by multiple witnesses at The Landing. Police then placed her under arrest for providing false information to an officer and for DUI as well as for leaving the scene of the accident at The Landing. Brien had slurred speech and was stumbling and didn’t follow instructions well. She refused to submit to a chemical test.