Authorities: Woman was driving drunk when she crashed into pond, left son

A Cicero woman was driving drunk when she crashed her SUV into an Aurora pond early Sunday and left her 6-year-old son in the submerged vehicle, authorities said Tuesday.

Gladys X. Ruvira-Garcia, 31, of the 5600 block of W. 22nd Place, is charged with three counts of aggravated DUI, endangering the life of a child, driving with no insurance, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving without a valid license.

She is being held in DuPage County jail on $500,000 bond.

Authorities say Ruvira-Garcia was returning home from a party in Aurora during the early morning hours of Sunday along with her son, her two daughters ages 15 and 12 and her 21-year-old sister when she lost control of her 2007 Nissan Xterra near Diehl Road and I-88 and plunged into a pond.

Ruvira-Garcia and the other females escaped the sinking vehicle, but the boy was left behind.

Divers from an Aurora Fire Department water rescue team found the SUV and boy in about 15 feet of water roughly 80 feet from shore. Authorities say they believe the boy was in the water for at least 30 minutes.

The boy was taken to an Aurora hospital and then moved to a Chicago hospital where he remains in critical condition in a medically-induced coma.

Ruvira-Garcia was taken into custody at the crash site. Authorities said she had a blood alcohol content of more than 0.14 - almost twice the legal limit.

"Like all alleged DUI cases, the situation Ms. Ruvira-Garcia finds herself in today was 100 percent avoidable," DuPage County State's Attorney Bob Berlin said in a news release. "As I have said numerous times in the past, if you have been drinking, do not drive. It is a very simple concept but unfortunately, far too many times, people fail to heed this advice and tragedy follows, as is alleged in this case."

Ruvira-Garcia's next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 30 in front of DuPage Judge Liam Brennan.