Jun 8, 2016 2 min read

A Cecil Township woman was charged last week by North Strabane Township police after she allegedly drove a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and a narcotic while her 9-year-old daughter was a passenger.

Jennifer Ann Cumer, 32, of 90 Beech St., Muse, was charged with endangering the welfare of children, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and public drunkenness. Police said her blood-alcohol content was more than 3 1/2 times the 0.08 percent limit at which intoxication is presumed. She also had Alprazolam in her system during the May 10 incident, police said.

Police were called to the parking lot at 2000 Park Place for a report of a heavily intoxicated woman trying to drive away with a 9-year-old girl in the car.

Police talked with Cumer, who they said had slurred speech. Police said she was staggering and fell to the ground. Cumer reportedly denied drinking alcohol and told police that she had driven there from her home to get her nails done.

Witnesses told police they saw Cumer staggering and said the girl was yelling that she did not want to get into the car. When one of the witnesses tried to intervene, offering to call Cumer a cab, the Muse woman allegedly became belligerent. The girl ran and was taken into a restaurant by one of the witnesses until police arrived.

The girl told police that she asked her mother why she was acting that way and Cumer reportedly responded that she had consumed four energy drinks.

Police took Cumer to Canonsburg Hospital so blood could be drawn to determine her level of intoxication. While at the hospital, she again became belligerent, calling the phlebotomist names, police said. When she was released from the hospital that night, she allegedly sat down in the middle of the emergency room floor after being told several times to leave.

Officer Gary Scherer indicated in court documents that this was not his first encounter with Cumer. He said he was called to a home on Maple Street last June when she tried to leave the residence with a 6-month-old infant. The 911 caller took the child out of concern for the baby’s safety, Scherer said.

The charges were sent by summons from the office of District Judge Jay Weller. Cumer is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Weller on July 27.