From Staff Reports

Suffolk News-Herald

An Isle of Wight County woman has been charged with abuse and neglect of a child following a traffic stop in Suffolk on Tuesday.

Jenna M. Poirier, 27, of Carrsville, was also charged with obstructing justice and eluding police in the incident, which a city spokeswoman said sent two police officer scrambling to avoid being hit by her vehicle.

Officers stopped Poirier at about 10:10 a.m. Tuesday at the corner of Linden and Kilby avenues, according to Diana Klink. Poirier’s vehicle had an expired Virginia registration and no high-mounted brake light.

Klink stated in an email that officers smelled a “strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle” and asked Poirier to turn off her vehicle. A passenger, according to Klink, told Poirier to “floor it,” at which time Poirier is alleged to have “accelerated in a reckless manner, causing two officers to move so as not to get struck by the vehicle.

The vehicle accelerated away from the police officers and then stopped about 500 feet away, where the passenger fled from the vehicle, Klink stated.

When police caught up to the vehicle, they found an 11-month-old child, who had been in the back seat of the vehicle for the entire incident.

Child Protective Services was notified about the incident, Klink stated.