A Franklin County woman has been charged with child endangerment after she reportedly walked away from a car crash with her injured daughter on Tuesday.
Catherine E. Geren, 31, of Industry left the Hennessey Road in Industry and crashed into a tree at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
Geren reportedly left the scene of the crash with two young children.
When Franklin County Sheriff’s Office staff arrived to investigate the crash, 28-year-old David Weber, who lived in the area, said that he had crashed the vehicle, according to the Sun Journal.
Weber continued to insist that he had been driving the car after officers asked about a woman and two children who had reportedly been seen leaving the scene of the crash, saying that the only person with him was his infant child. He then added that his girlfriend, Geren, was in the house with him at the time.
Geren told officers that she had not left the house, and that her 5-year-old daughter was staying with her parents, the Sun Journal reported.
However, officers found the child in the same room that Geren had been in. The child, who had a cut on her lip and left cheek, told officers that she and her brother had been in the car crash.
The girl and the infant boy were transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital, and the children have been placed in the custody of a relative, according to the Sun Journal.
Geren, who told officers that she had fallen asleep while driving her daughter home from the bus stop and that she didn’t report the crash because she did not have phone service, was found to have a blood alcohol content higher than 0.08 percent, according to an affidavit.
Geren has been charged with operating under the influence, endangering the welfare of a child, failure to report an accident and violation of condition of release. She made an arraignment appearance on Wednesday, and has been released from the Franklin County jail on personal recognizance bail and a supervised release agreement.
Weber was arrested on a warrant charge of two counts of failure to appear on unrelated cases and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. He was released on $310 bail.
If convicted of the charges, Geren and Weber could face up to 364 days in jail to six months in prison.