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Last updated on Monday, December 30, 2013
(BLOOMFIELD) - A 32-year-old Bloomfield woman was formally charged with two class D felonies in Greene Circuit Court last week.
Melissa Ann Ferree is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance and neglect of a dependent involving putting the child in a situation endangering the child's life or health.
She is accused of smoking marijuana or allowing marijuana to be smoked in a car with an adult male passenger while an unrestrained child was asleep in the vehicle.
Ferree was arrested on Dec. 20 during a traffic stop by Bloomfield Bloomfield Police after police noticed Ferree's headlight was not working.
When police approached the vehicle they smelled a strong odor of burnt marijuana and asked Ferree about the odor.
Ferree said she had not smoked any marijuana inside of the vehicle, but her adult male passenger may.
When the officer spoke to the adult male passenger, he denied smoking marijuana in the vehicle, but said Ferree had.
Police says Ferree, who bought the vehicle in July, had no proof of insurance and had not transferred the title or plate into her name.
After being given consent to search the vehicle, police found five pills of Alprazolam in her purse.
Police also say a pre-school-aged child was asleep in the back seat. The child was not in a car seat. The officer contacted the Department of Child Services to make arrangements for the child's care, and Ferree was arrested.
During an interview at the sheriff's department, Ferree alleged the passenger in her vehicle was smoking marijuana in the car and that she didn't think it was dangerous because he had the joint hanging out of the window. She also told police she didn't think it was harmful to smoke marijuana, because in other states people can smoke it and it's not against the law.
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