FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — A Pennsylvania couple has been charged after troopers found a crack pipe within reach of an unrestrained juvenile while responding to a vehicle accident in Marion County.

On July 20, troopers with Marion County detachment of the West Virginia State Police were dispatched to a vehicle accident at mile marker 139 of I-79 near Fairmont, according to a criminal complaint.

When troopers arrived, they spoke with the driver, Christin Bernhisel, 42, of Waynesborough, Pennsylvania, and “observed her to have constricted pupils,” resulting in a field sobriety test being administered, troopers said.

During those series of tests, Christin “showed signs of impairment” and was taken into custody for a DUI; at that point, troopers spoke with the vehicle’s passenger, David Bernisel, 51, of Waynesborough, Pennsylvania, who said that he and Christin “smoked ‘crack’ together ‘hours’ earlier and were now driving to Kentucky,” according to the complaint.

Troopers located a 3-year-old in the back seat of the vehicle “not restrained,” and David “was aware [the child] was not in a proper child seat”; troopers also located “a crack pipe in the back seat within reach of the juvenile,” which David claimed belonged to him, troopers said.

Christin and David have been charged with child neglect. They are being held in North Central Regional Jail.

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