Daniel Prince
Officer found a four-year-old child near passed out woman
A Union woman was arrested Tuesday and faces multiple charges. Sgt. David Lee was dispatched to the Union Energy Market at 908 South Duncan Bypass for a report of someone passed out in the parking lot. EMS was on scene trying to wake a woman up when Lee arrived. Lee noticed a four-year-old child sitting in the dark next to the closed building about 20 yards away from the woman, who was identified as 29-year-old Jessica Elizabeth Gardler. She was the child’s mother. Lee noticed the child was only wearing a shirt and underwear and no shoes. When Gardler woke up, she appeared unsteady on her feet. Lee smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her. He noticed she had something in her front pocket, and he asked her to empty it. She gave him a plastic bag which contained residue of a crystal-like substance and a piece of paper with a crystal-like substance inside. Gardler was arrested and charged with meth possession and unlawful conduct toward a child. The child was placed in DSS custody.