Couple accused of taking methadone, passing out with toddler in car

A McKees Rocks couple is facing criminal charges after they were found slumped over inside a car in Kennedy Township with a toddler in the back seat.

Elton Schaeffer, 40, was charged with child endangerment. Charges are pending against his 33-year-old pregnant girlfriend, who was revived by paramedics.

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A neighbor on Long Valley Drive called 911 after seeing the couple passed out while parked in the road with the young girl in the car.

When he woke up, Schaeffer handed police a bottle of pills and said that he and the toddler’s mother had taken methadone.

Police said the car windows were rolled completely up, and the 2-year-old was sweating heavily. Because the car was sitting in the sun, police said they do not think it would have been long before the child could have become overheated.

Nikki Wnrholak, the suspects’ friend, said, “They just gave me a ride home two days ago. They said they had nowhere to stay so I let them stay here.”

Another woman who said she knows the couple told Channel 11 she doesn’t think the couple would intentionally put the child in harm’s way.

Police said Schaeffer was driving on a suspended license. The child is in the care of the Office of Children, Youth and Families.

Cox Media Group