An Eldred woman is in McKean County Jail for allegedly endangering children by “getting high” and falling on one child while holding another.
Linnea Vannette, 28, of 1 Cris Drive, Apt. 1B, is charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children, each graded differently — one is a second-degree felony involving an infant, the second is a third-degree felony involving a 5-year-old child, and the third is a first-degree misdemeanor for a child aged 6. She’s also charged with simple assault, a first-degree misdemeanor; recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor; possession of a small amount of marijuana and three counts of possession of paraphernalia, misdemeanors; and one count each of harassment and public drunkenness, summary offenses.
According to the criminal complaint, at 4 p.m. Monday, state police were called to an overdose at Vannette’s residence. At the scene, police were told Vannette had taken an unknown amount of cough and cold medicine and fell while holding an infant. The witness said Vannette had marijuana in the residence as well.
A neighbor said he walked by just after the fall, and saw Vannette, holding her infant, on the ground on top of a 4-year-old child. The child was taken to UPMC Cole for treatment of injuries, but the infant was not injured, the complaint stated.
Another neighbor said he saw Vannette seated on her back patio, got up and looked “out of it,” walked toward the back door of her apartment and tried to grab the door handle. She missed and fell, landing on the 4-year-old child.
Police spoke to Vannette, who “appeared very out of it,” the complaint stated. She told them she had bought two packages of cough medicine and taken all of it to “get high;” it was 32 pills. She was the only adult supervising three children at the time. She said she had smoked marijuana that morning, and when asked, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most impaired she had ever been, she told police she was at a 10, according to the complaint.
Vannette was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Bill Todd and remanded to jail in lieu of $30,000 bail. She is scheduled to appear in Central Court on May 23.
