Judge investigated: Michigan's 39th District Court Judge Catherine Steenland, 51, is being investigated in connection to a suspected DUI hit-and-run crash that occurred on September 25

A Michigan district judge with a history of DUI is being investigated for allegedly striking a car carrying a man and his daughter, and then fleeing the scene of the accident.

James Nielsen, 30, of St Claire Shores, Michigan, says he was driving north on Gratiot Avenue in Roseville with his nine-year-old, Elliana, in the backseat of his blue 2010 Chrysler 300 at around 8.20pm on September 25 when a woman in a red Dodge Charger sideswiped him.

‘I was beeping the horn. It didn't get her attention. She looked back at me and then floored it. I followed her to the end of the street, got her license plate, called 911 and then she took off again,’ Nielsen told WXYZ.

According to Nielsen, the female motorist in the red Dodge appeared intoxicated and was seen swerving in the road and driving erratically.

Nielsen followed the Dodge to a house in Roseville, where the woman parked in the driveway and went inside. The Detroit Free Press reported that police officers who responded to the scene spoke to a man who came out of the residence and then called for a tow truck to impound the damaged vehicle.

Victim speaks: James Nielsen, 30 (left), says he was driving with his young daughter in Roseville when a woman, believed to be Judge Steenland, sideswiped his Chrysler causing $7,000 worth of damage (right)

Days after the collision, which Nielsen said left him with a chipped tooth, back pain and about $7,000 in damage to his car, he learned from the local police that the driver of the vehicle that struck him was 39th District Court Judge Catherine Steenland.

The Roseville Police Department has since turned the case over to the Michigan State Police.

A spokesperson for the MSP confirmed earlier this month that his agency received the complaint against Judge Steenland and was handling the investigation.

As of Tuesday morning, she has not been charged with any crime.

Nielsen told C&G Newspapers that even before he learned Steenland's name, he got an inkling that the person who had allegedly hit him was 'someone of importance' when the local police handed his complaint over to the state police.

The incident took place on Gratiot Avenue in Roseville, Michigan, on the night of September 25

Nielsen had his nine-year-old daughter (left) riding in the backseat, but the girl was uninjured

Steenland, 51, who has served as an elected judge in Roseville for nearly 15 years, has been on medical leave since July 21 for a back surgery, but was scheduled to return to work on Tuesday.

This is not Steenland's first run-in with the law: in June 2008, she was charged with DUI after she drove into a ditch in Ogemaw County.

After telling a Michigan state trooper that she only had a couple of beers and was not drunk, Steenland, then aged 41, failed four sobriety tests, including multiple attempts to recite the alphabet, reported The Macomb Daily. Lab test results later revealed that her blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit for driving in Michigan.

Steenland pleaded guilty to the DUI count and was sentenced to six months of probation; she was also ordered to enter an alcohol highway safety program and pay a total of $800 in prosecution costs, fines and fees.

The Michigan Supreme Court also suspended her from the bench for three months without pay.

Steenland was first elected to the District Court in Roseville in 2002. She won re-election last November to another six-year term, which runs through 2023.

She is the wife of Roseville City Clerk Richard Steenland.