A Brunswick woman was charged with endangering the welfare of a child Sunday afternoon after allegedly smoking heroin before driving with two children in Gardiner and stopping the car because she felt incapacitated by the drug, said Chief James Toman of the Gardiner Police Department.

Police first responded to Route 24 at 1:54 p.m. Sunday afternoon after receiving a report that a woman had pulled her vehicle over and was overdosing on heroin — and also that children were in the car.

They issued a summons to Ashley Theriault, 26, after she admitted to smoking heroin with an acquaintance in South Gardiner before driving north on Route 24 with two kids in the back of the car and a third unidentified passenger, Toman said.

Both children were Theriault’s, according to the initial complaint received by police, and both were under the age of 10, Toman said.

When Theriault started to feel the effects of the heroin, Toman continued, “She pulled off to the side of road thinking it would pass basically, and when she did not get any better, eventually her passenger grew concerned enough to call 911.”

Gardiner police and firefighters both responded to the scene. Police charged Theriault with endangering the welfare of a child, Toman said, and she was brought to MaineGeneral Medical Center for treatment.

Police took custody of the children and they are now with a relative, Toman said. Police also planned to notify the state Department of Health and Human Services about the charge against Theriault.

This is not the first time in recent memory that an adult has been charged for allegedly using heroin before or while driving a car. In Waterville two weeks ago, a Winslow woman was arrested after police say they found her passed out in her car and with a needle in her arm. Her toddler was also in the car, according to police.

In September, an Ohio police department posted a photo to its Facebook page of a couple that allegedly overdosed on heroin in their car and a little boy sitting alert in the back of the car.

The move was controversial, with some advocates for addiction treatment arguing the photo violated the privacy of the couple and the child. But the police department defended the move, arguing the public needs to be aware of the impacts from the ongoing opiate epidemic.

That epidemic continues to worsen in Maine with more drug overdoses recorded this year than in all of 2015, according to numbers recently released by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Toman advised anyone who is addicted to opiates to seek treatment by contacting police departments, hospitals or agencies such as Kennebec Behavioral Health or Crisis & Counseling Centers.

When someone has used opiates and gotten behind the wheel of a car, he said, “You not only put your own life in danger, you also put the motoring public in danger.”

Charles Eichacker — 621-5642

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @ceichacker

Copy the Story Link