AMBRIDGE, Pa. -- — A Harmony Township mother found suffering from an overdose in a yard has been charged with leaving her 6-year-old son alone in an apartment.
According to a police report, 35-year-old Angela Bartling was found unresponsive at 6:40 a.m. July 19 in a yard in the 600 block of Duss Avenue in Ambridge.
Maintenance men later found heroin needles and several crack pipes mixed into her child’s crayon boxes, authorities said.
"From what I understand, it was horrific – like no child or even adult should be living in those conditions,” Ambridge police Chief James Mann said.
Neighbor Del Slappo noticed Bartling in the lying in the yard and called 911 for help. Slappo said multiple people walked past her and made no attempt to help her.
“I said, ‘She’s dying, or maybe she’s dead already,'” Slappo, 73, said. “She (was) turning purple and blue.”
Police said Bartling had overdosed on heroin, leaving her young son alone in her nearby apartment for potentially hours. Mann said Bartling’s breathing was very shallow and she was unresponsive when medics arrived. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Bartling is now charged with endangering the welfare of a child and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 13.
She has since been evicted from the apartment and a police report says her son was placed into a foster home.