MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -
A drunk driving defense lawyer is cleaning up after an accused drunk driver drove her car through the front of the lawyer's office early Friday morning.
Murfreesboro police said Brandi Henricks was drunk when she drove her Volkswagen over the sidewalk and into Lisa Eischeid's law office located on Church Street around 2 a.m.
"You can see the oil line right here and she was parked in front of that gold car right there," explained Eischeid.
Authorities said after crashing into the building, Henricks fled the scene in her badly damaged car before the vehicle broke down on Medical Center Parkway.
Henricks and her female passenger abandoned the disabled car before they were later located at a Murfreesboro home.
Eye witnesses identified Henricks as the driver of the vehicle.
Police said she failed field sobriety tests and was taken into custody.
It is her third DUI since 2005.
Eischeid said she estimates the damage to her law office is around $30,000 and said the historic building will need extensive repair.
Since the damaged building is a part of Murfreesboro's historic district, all repairs have to meet the city's approval.
"I do DUI defense," Eischeid said. "I know both sides of it. I am not going to judge her. I am sorry, I am not mad at her. Everybody makes a mistake."
She added, "It could be worse. Somebody could have been walking [or] somebody could have been killed. It could have been during the middle of the day when I had a full office."
Henricks remains in the Rutherford County Jail on $3,500 bond.
She is charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.
Henricks is scheduled to appear in court in mid-August.
