Mom found slumped over in running car as infant sleeps in backseat, cops say

The mom was “pulling at her hair and eyelashes, and unable to keep her head up.”

A Florida woman was arrested Thursday evening after police reportedly found her unconscious in her car and allegedly in the possession of methamphetamine while her 8-month-old baby slept in the backseat.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, officers found Brittney Merritt, 33, slumped over the wheel while parked on Avalon Boulevard in Milton. An arrest report stated that authorities witnessed Merritt “pulling at her hair and eyelashes, and unable to keep her head up” while inside the parked Nissan Sentra, which was running at the time.

An officer who knocked on the window and had Merritt exit the vehicle reportedly spotted two syringes on the seat she was sitting on. The News Journal reported that a subsequent search of the car produced a glass pipe, plastic spoon, straw, and a plastic bag containing a white, crystal-like substance which authorities determined was meth.

WEAR-TV reported that some of the paraphernalia was located within the infant’s reach.

Merritt was charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, and child neglect. Her bond was set at $11,000.

 

[Featured image: Brittney Merritt/Santa Rosa County Jail]