EVERETT — A Woodinville couple was arrested Sunday morning after they allegedly were caught speeding down I-405 with the woman’s three children and a small dog locked in the trunk.
The woman was pulled over by a Washington State Patrol trooper just before 11 a.m. in the Canyon Park area of Bothell, trooper Keith Leary said.
She allegedly had been going 77 mph. The speed limit is 60.
The woman, who was driving a 2007 Nissan Sentra, didn’t say anything to the trooper about the children until about 30 minutes into the roadside stop, prosecutors said in court Monday. That’s when the trooper heard thumping coming from the trunk and asked about the noise.
The woman then told him the children were inside, Leary said. The trooper got the kids out and called for additional officers and supervisors.
The woman, 28, and her fiance, 27, both were being held at the Snohomish County Jail on Monday for investigation of a host of drug- and child endangerment-related offenses. Her bail was set at $25,000.
The children, an 8-year-old girl, and two boys, 5 and 7, all were OK, Leary said. They and the dog were taken into protective custody.
Troopers also fed the kids lunch after the children told them they hadn’t eaten anything since the day before.
The troopers wanted “to at least get the little guys something to eat,” Leary said. “That’s the least we could have done.”
Police reportedly found heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription pills in the car, according to court papers. They also spotted numerous signs of drug activity inside. A heavy odor of freshly smoked marijuana is what prompted the trooper to begin a roadside search.
“There were many different varieties of drug paraphernalia,” Leary said.
The car’s back seat was taken up by a guitar and a snowboard, he said.
There were no child safety seats in the car, which would have been required for at least two of the children, based on their height and weight.
The woman allegedly told troopers at the jail that the family had been headed to Everett to visit their grandmother. She reportedly said her children had willfully crawled into the trunk, and she told them that they shouldn’t.
The woman didn’t speak in court Monday. She kept her eyes down and repeatedly put her head in her hands.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com
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