Michele D. Ruengert, 38, of Linn, was charged Monday with endangering the welfare of a child, possession of a controlled substance except for 35 grams or less marijuana, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia following an incident Sunday at Dr. Bruns Conservation Access at Westphalia.
A caller reported that she was down by the river when she saw a female get into a black Pontiac and drive away as a young male was screaming for his mom to come back.
Upon arrival, Deputy Ricky Jarvis and Lt. Justin Carnes saw Ruengert exit her vehicle, which was parked on the boat ramp access.
Ruengert’s son was in a tent near the car, and when asked, she admitted to having left him at the access alone for about 30 minutes while she went to Joe’s Market to purchase a fishing license.
Ruengert told Jarvis she did not hear her son screaming as she left. However, a Maries County deputy was at the river access and had witnessed Ruengert leaving her son.
Jarvis in his probable cause statement noted the deputy also confirmed that the son was screaming for her to come back as Ruengert rapidly accelerated and left the area.
Jarvis went to the vehicle, where Ruengert and Carnes were located.
“I observed Ruengert to be shaking,” Jarvis said in his PC statement. “Having dealt with Ruengert numerous times in the past, and her showing signs of nervousness, I asked her for consent to search her vehicle.”
Ruengert denied consent to search, but Jarvis said he was going to have K-9 Zed conduct a free-air sniff around the exterior of the vehicle.
Jarvis noted that Ruengert became angry and stated that it was not legal for him to do such a thing.
He conducted the exterior search of the vehicle and Zed alerted to the presence of narcotics.
Jarvis attempted to open the driver’s door but it was locked and Ruengert said she was not going to open it. Ruengert was told that if she refused to open the door, Jarvis was going to force entry through the window due to having probable cause to search the vehicle.
Ruengert came to the passenger side door and put a key into the lock but said it wasn’t working and she couldn’t get it to open. Ruengert also attempted on the driver’s door and said it would not unlock.
According to court documents, Ruengert said, “I’ve been having problems with this.”
At this time, Jarvis advised Ruengert to give him the keys so he could attempt to unlock the door. Ruengert repeatedly refused the request and became agitated.
She was detained at that point and handcuffed. Ruengert continued to hold the keys in her hands and would not let them go.
Jarvis was able to obtain the keys and attempted to unlock the vehicle. As he reached to put the key in the lock, Ruengert said, “Okay, there’s something in the vehicle,” admitting there was a “loaded syringe, like last time.”
Ruengert said the syringe was located in her purse and after Jarvis unlocked the vehicle without any issue, he found it. Also located in her purse on the passenger seat was a clear plastic baggie containing a white crystalline substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
After being advised of her rights, Ruengert said she was given the suspected methamphetamine the previous day by a friend but did not use any of it because it did not look like regular methamphetamine and she was scared to use it.
A total of 1.7 grams of suspected methamphetamine and a syringe filled with 25ml of suspected methamphetamine were seized.
Jarvis contacted the Division of Family Services and had the child put into emergency protective custody.
Ruengert is being held at the Osage County Detention Center without bond.