Woman charged after passing out with child in back seat, Whitehall police say
Apr 01, 2025
WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) -- A 24-year-old woman who was allegedly under the influence of drugs passed out while driving her car with her 5-year-old child asleep in the back seat, according to Whitehall police.
Police body camera footage captures the moment this close-call unfolded last month. Poli
ce said they arrested the woman and the child is OK. NBC4 is not naming the woman or showing her face.
Whitehall police said they hope people see this story and are reminded to think before getting behind the wheel under the influence.
Police said they received several calls on March 22 about a possible emergency in the area of South Hamilton Road and Etna Road.
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"Immediately, you're thinking, is this a medical situation? Is this person in a diabetic seizure? Did something else happen?" Whitehall Police Deputy Chief Dan Kelso said.
Kelso said in the video there are officers parked in front of the vehicle in case it started moving.
Officers knocked and yelled for at least 30 seconds before there is a response. Police said when the woman finally unlocked the car door, they noticed her 5-year-old daughter asleep in her car seat in the back.
They asked questions like “are you a diabetic” and “do you know what day it is?”
Officers said they noticed her pupils were small when they looked at her eyes and asked her if she had taken drugs. The woman first said no she had not. She later admitted to smoking marijuana earlier in the day.
Officers said they later searched the car and in the center consul they found a small bag of fentanyl, a white straw, and marijuana.
“So the officers ran her through what's called field sobriety tests, which she failed, so they could tell. And they also ran her under a separate set of tests,” Kelso said.
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The police report said the woman eventually admitted to using both substances at some point earlier that day and said she had snorted the fentanyl at about 3 a.m. and smoked the marijuana just before 1 p.m.
The report said, “she stated she was stopped at the red light on South Hamilton Road and remembered feeling tired before being woken up by police.”
The report also said she had taken anxiety medication twice that day.
“I would just say once again, people, be responsible. It's easy. Don't kill your kids and your and everyone else on the road for a little bit of fentanyl or marijuana or alcohol. It's so easy to do it the right way,” Kelso said.
The child was picked up by a family member and taken home safe, according to police.
They have sent out more tests to the lab but for now, the woman is facing misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as child endangerment and failure to display a license plate. ...read more read less