WATERVILLE — A Winslow woman was arrested after police found her passed out in her car with a needle in her arm, along with her toddler, according to the police chief.

Kathryn Hopkins, 26, of 1300 China Road, was charged Tuesday with operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and endangering the welfare of a child, both class D misdemeanors.

Police were sent at 6:20 p.m. to the Mobil gas station on Pleasant Street in response to a report of a woman passed out in a car with a needle in her arm. When police arrived, they found the scene as it was described, according to Chief Joseph Massey. Also, a 4-year-old child was in the car.

Police opened the car door and woke Hopkins up, who, according to police, then indicated she was a heroin addict and needed help.

“I think, you know, this is another incident where it illustrates how pervasive the opiate addiction is to folks not just in our community or our state, but across the country,” Massey said. “It’s really reached an epidemic level.”

The child was fine, he said, and has been placed in the custody of the child’s grandparents.

Hopkins was freed on $2,000 unsecured bail. She is scheduled to appear Jan. 3, 2017 in Waterville District Court.

Massey said that just within the past few weeks, Waterville police have seen a man die of a drug overdose and arrested two people for allegedly having large amounts of synthetic heroin.

“There is an appetite for these kinds of drugs,” he said. “It’s not just our community.”

Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239

mstamour@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @madelinestamour