3 children taken away after ‘unresponsive’ parents arrested on drug, neglect charges

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — The parents of three young children were arrested on charges including drug possession, child abuse and child neglect after officers found the adults passed out in a car, police said.

Officers from the Bullhead City (Arizona) Police Department said they had to bang on the car windows and yell to wake up the parents late Thursday night.

The children, a 3-year-old and two 6-year-olds, were sleeping in the back seat and had easy access to the drugs, according to police. Officers said drugs — believed to be cocaine — and drug paraphernalia with burnt residue were near the children.

Shawn Lee Martin, 49, and Melisa Renee Richman, 32, were booked into the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, and the three children were placed into protective custody, police said.

Martin and Richman were no longer in custody on Monday, according to jail records.

Officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of U.S. 95 and Miracle Mile, where they found Martin and Richman “unresponsive due to being under the influence of drugs.”

Bullhead City is across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, about an hour and a half south of Las Vegas.

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