Summary: A woman accused in fall 2012 of impaired driving and found in her vehicle with her pet hamster on her lap has completed diversion through Beaverton Municipal Court.

The case: Shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2012, Beaverton police officers stopped a car in the 14000 block of Southwest Scholls Ferry Road on suspicion of an impaired driver. Officers found Nicole Elizabeth Huey, 29, at the wheel with a hamster on her lap. Huey told officers she was headed to a local store, and got out of her car, leaving the hamster on the dashboard. Three officers chased the loose hamster before one could trap it with a container made from an evidence tube. Huey was arrested on an accusation of DUII and taken to the Washington County Jail. Neither Huey nor the hamster was injured during the incident. Huey reportedly told officers she had no one to retrieve the hamster and they "should just kill it." Police assured Huey the pet would not be harmed and took it to an emergency clinic in Tualatin. Police gave Huey the contact information for the clinic and, after she was released from jail, claimed her hamster later that morning.

Update: Huey pleaded guilty to one count of DUII and entered a one-year diversion program on Nov. 7, 2012. Huey paid the state program fee and other assessments totaling $500. After Huey fulfilled the program's requirements, the judge signed the order dismissing the conviction on Dec. 10, 2013, according to court records.

-- Roger Gregory