Elena Ford Pleads Guilty to DUI, Child Endangerment

Auto heiress Elena Ford plead guilty in Ferndale's 43rd District Court today for a drunken driving and child endangerment incident that took place on April 3.

Ford was arrested in Ferndale with a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit. The arresting officer, when he approached the vehicle on April 3, noticed a boy in the back seat. It was Ford's 11-year-old son.

Ford, the 44-year-old director of global marketing for Ford Motor Co., was visibly crying during the pretrial hearing, according to the Daily Tribune.

“Being here is something I’ve never experienced before,” Ford told Judge Joseph Longo, which was reported by the Daily Tribune. “It’s a complete embarrassment to my family, especially my son and my friends … I can’t tell you sorry I am this happened.”

Ford was sentenced to two years probation, ordered to complete 240 hours of community service, attend counseling and pay $1,518 in fines and costs. There is also a $35 monthly probation charge, the Tribune reported.

Ferndale Police spotted Ford, a Birmingham resident, on April 3 driving erratically. Her Ford Explorer had jumped the curb, heading north on Woodward Avenue near Nine Mile Road.

The officer pulled Ford over near East Cambourne Street, on Woodward. Ford was asked to take five field sobriety tests, including a Breathalyzer, which the arresting officer said she sucked in instead of blew out.

"I saw that her eyes were glassy and watery and that her face was flushed red," the officer wrote in the report. The officer asked Ford what made her car go up on the curb.

"Elena said, 'I was trying to use the phone,' " the officer reported. "Her speech was slurred." Ford told the officer that she had had two drinks.