A woman who had to be rescued with her two children over the weekend after driving her car into a pond in Hancock County was on her way back from a methadone clinic in Bangor and had been drinking, police said Monday.

Mandi Parker, 38, of Jonesboro, and her two children – 2-month-old Tanner Kjenstad and 3-year-old Georgia Parker – were rescued by a fisherman from her sinking car after crashing into Fox Pond on Saturday afternoon.

Leonard and Rosemary Wallace came to the aid of a mother and her two children after the car the family was riding in landed in Fox Pond. Maine State Police photo

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“Parker was returning from Bangor’s methadone clinic, had a suspended driver’s license and had been drinking alcohol,” Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said in a news release.

Parker was charged after the rescue with operating after suspension of her license. Additional charges could be filed after troopers complete their investigation, McCausland said.

State police said that Parker’s car went off the road after it failed to negotiate a sharp curve on Route 182.

After Parker and her children were treated at a local hospital, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services took custody of the two children.

Samantha Edwards, a DHHS spokeswoman, said she could not comment on any action the department is taking with regard to Parker’s children specifically. But she said that in general when children enter state custody the Office of Child and Family Services will work to place children in the care of a relative.

The fisherman, 60-year-old Leonard Wallace, and his wife, Rosemary, had gone to Fox Pond to fish when Parker’s car flew inches past his head and landed in the pond, several feet from shore and on its roof.

Wallace said Sunday evening that he waded through frigid water to the rear passenger door and wedged his hand through a small opening at the top. He put his foot on the rear tire for leverage and was able to pull the door open.

Next, he grabbed the 2-month-old and waded back to shore, where he handed the infant to his wife. Wallace, who is 6 foot 1, said the water was up to his armpits during the rescue.

He waded back to the car, which was filling fast with water. Parker and the 3-year-old were trapped in the front seat. Parker could not open the doors because the water was pressing in on them.

“She was more concerned about her kids than herself,” Wallace recalled. “She kept screaming at me: ‘Take my kids! Take my kids!’ ”

Wallace grabbed the front of the child’s pajamas and Parker’s collar and, using both hands, pulled both of them over the front seat, through the rear compartment, and out the door to safety.

He and his wife took the family to their car – a Pontiac Grand Am – and wrapped them in blankets to keep them warm, while Parker’s car sank. Authorities told Wallace the water temperature of the pond was about 48 degrees.

The Wallaces said they tried to flag down two cars for help, but both drove past without stopping. Rosemary Wallace kept dialing 9-1-1 on her cellphone before a police dispatcher finally called her back several minutes later. Cellphone reception in that area is poor.

State police responded, along with two ambulances, and took Parker and her children to a hospital.

Fox Pond is located in Township 10 on a remote stretch of Route 182 between Cherryfield and Ellsworth that winds past mountains, lakes and public lands.

The Wallaces said their trip to Fox Pond was the first time they had gone fishing this year.

Parker has a lengthy criminal history of misdemeanor convictions from 1998 to 2007. She also has lengthy record of motor vehicle violations, including many license suspensions and speeding violations.

Parker’s most recent driver’s license expired on June 11, 2011. She has been convicted twice since then of driving with a suspended license, according to Bureau of Motor Vehicles records.

It’s not clear whether Parker owns the car she was driving. There are no vehicles registered in Maine in her name, according to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Parker’s criminal convictions are for charges including terrorizing, criminal mischief, numerous thefts, driving under the influence, unlawful drug possession and multiple bail violations. Her longest jail sentence was for four months in 2007.

Parker was also the driver in two prior crashes, both in the town of Steuben in 2006. In one, she was charged with driving under the influence and later convicted. In the other crash, she swerved off the road to avoid hitting a deer, according to police accident reports.

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