Greensburg woman charged with endangering children, drug possession after traffic stop

A Greensburg woman pulled over early Tuesday for driving erratically during a snow storm without functioning headlights was later arrested by city police and charged with illegal possession of crack cocaine and heroin.

Sarah K. Walters, 28, also was charged with child endangerment because, police say, she had two young children, ages 3 and 5, in her van who were not secured in child safety seats and left a third child, 8, at her apartment unsupervised during the trip.

Patrolman Henry Fontana Jr. said the incident began at 12:41 a.m. on the 700 block of Highland Avenue when he noticed Walters’s van with improperly working headlights having trouble navigating the snow-covered road. He pulled her over in the Nature’s Way parking lot, according to police reports.

Fontana said, when he questioned Walters, he saw two children not properly secured in child safety seats and discovered Walters in possession of suspected crack cocaine, heroin and devices to ingest the drugs.

“Through investigation, it was determined that Walters left a third child, an 8-years-old girl, at home and unattended as she drove to a Greensburg residence to purchase crack cocaine and heroin,” Fontana wrote in court documents.

County children and youth services was notified. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Walters has a hearing scheduled May 5 on child endangerment, illegal possession of controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia and multiple traffic violations.

According to on-line court dockets, she has a separate hearing scheduled April 6 on unrelated charges of child endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia after city police responded to report of a domestic incident at her apartment and reported finding four empty stamp bags of heroin and marijuana there. Police allege the contraband was within reach of the children.

According to the police complaint filed after the Jan. 31 incident, police reported Walters denied “using any narcotics.”

Walters could not be reached for comment. She did not have an attorney listed in court documents.