Bradley Bennett, 32, and Laura Smith, 30, of Adrian, were arrested for two counts each of child neglect creating risk of injury, a felony. Deputy Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department initiated a traffic stop on a blue Mitsubishi sedan near Village Hardware in French Creek after observing it had a defective exhaust and defective brake light, according to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s office.

Gordon observed four adults inside the vehicle and an infant child in a rear facing child restraint between the rear passengers.

Bennett, the driver, had a suspended driver’s license and allegedly advised there was a marijuana smoking device inside the vehicle and he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.

Gordon opened the rear passenger door of the vehicle to search and found two small children wedged in the floorboard of the vehicle between Smith’s legs and sitting on top of dirty trash, jumper cables, beer cans and other refuse. Smith is the mother and Bennett is the father of the children, according to the criminal complaint.

Smith

Smith told Gordon that the children had been in child restraints until she and Bennett stopped to pick up two adult male friends who were walking south on Route 20. The children, ages 4 and 2, were then taken from their child restraints and placed on the floor of the vehicle so the friends could have a seat in the car.

During a search of the vehicle, Gordon found both a marijuana smoking device and a methamphetamine smoking device, police said.

Magistrate Kay Hurst set bond at $50,000 cash or surety each.

Child neglect creating risk of injury carries a possible sentence of one to five years in prison and/or a $1,000 to $3,000 fine.