Mom passed out; car running; toddler in back

POST FALLS — Police are praising an alert passerby who reported an unconscious woman inside a parked, running vehicle with the driver's door open and a 13-month-old in the back seat late Wednesday night.

Amber Monti, 25, Post Falls, was arrested on charges of DUI, cruelty to children, possession of drugs without a prescription and open container. Monti and her daughter were found in a 2012 four-door Mazda parked along the road near the intersection of Sundance Drive and Greensferry Road in Post Falls at 11:45 p.m., police say.

"A passerby reported it as suspicious," Post Falls Police Capt. Greg McLean said, noting it was an example of how residents can partner with police to prevent crime.

Monti was slumped over in the driver's seat while the girl was sleeping in the back seat when an officer arrived, McLean said. The toddler was in a car seat, police said.

"(Monti) woke up confused as to where she was," McLean said. "There were empty wine boxes on the passenger floorboard and she admitted to drinking earlier."

McLean said Monti also admitted to taking Xanax, a prescribed sedative to treat anxiety and panic disorders.

According to police reports, Monti told officers that she'd broken up with her boyfriend and was upset so she had been drinking.

McLean said when officers attempted to contact the child's father, they were told he was at a halfway house and in no condition to pick up the girl.

"The child was then sheltered," he said.

All of the charges against Monti are misdemeanors.

She was being being held at the Kootenai County Jail on Friday on a $500 bond.

Monti has previously been booked into the Kootenai County Jail four times as an adult on charges of drug and paraphernalia possession, probation violations, obstructing and a warrant for burglary.